Kirby 64: Out of Darkness Comes Light
by Phazon Droid
Summary: The mystical power of Ripple Star's Crystal Shard attracts Dark Matter's attention. When Ripple Star comes under attack, Ribbon, the planet's last hope, escapes with her life, but the shard shattered. However, all hope is not lost. Chapter 35: The Offer
1. Darkness Lives

**Phazon: **Kirby 64's one of the best N64 games I've played, so I'm going to do my own retelling of the game, seeing as there aren't a lot of them, though there are a few notable exceptions, such as the one done by author **Stoney**, so I'm not ripping you off or anything.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**Darkness Lives**

Ripple Star was a peaceful, tranquil planet (quiet obvious since it was in the shape of a heart) that was inhabited by many fairies. It was a thriving civilization; everyone worked together to help make the planet the beautiful spectacle that it was, always keeping an eye on their most precious treasure: the coveted Crystal Shard. This mystical jewel had the power to expel all darkness when it surfaced.

Birds sang harmonious tunes, water trickled from the fountains, the flowers blossomed under the lovely sun. It was a lovely day and the inhabitants of Ripple Star were enjoying every second of it.

"Hurry now, Ribbon! We haven't much time!"

Ribbon was one of the most heralded fairies of Ripple Star. Not the most intelligent, but she had a heart of gold and was kind to all other beings. She had helped the queen make Ripple Star what it was by becoming one of her right-hand fairies. All fairies younger than her saw Ribbon as a role model they could identify with.

A blue haired fairy flew out to the main gate of the castle to get her friend, a young pink-haired fairy that was cradling a rod in her arms. The clumsy Queen Gretchen of Ripple Star had called them for an important meeting of the three of them. The two flew into the great hall of the magnificent castle structure, lined with beautiful portraits and sculptures in the long hallway.

"You're struggling, move faster!" Dixie pulled Ribbon's hand harder as she flew through the halls of the castle up the ascending staircase. She wasn't paying attention and bumped into another fairy that was looking through a telescope.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" Emily asked as she rubbed her bruised forehead.

"Queen has summoned us. What are you looking at?"

"Well," she started as she went back to observing, "it's been getting darker each day, and they haven't called for rain or anything. Something just doesn't feel right."

"You just need to clean that lens or get some glasses!" Dixie called as she and Ribbon continued on.

They reached the queen's door and rushed in, seeing the queen staring at the crystal shard, which was glowing.

"It only does this when there's trouble afoot," the Queen said, her eyesight not darting from the shard. "Dixie and Ribbon, alert the citizens to keep their eyes sharp!"

"You could just give them all a pair of specs like you, your majesty," Ribbon chuckled to herself.

The queen adjusted her specs as she eyed the rod Ribbon clutched. "What is this for? Is it your nightlight?"

"It fell from the sky one night, but I don't know from where. All I know is that the words "Super Star" are embedded onto it, but Emily has come upon something."

"What's that?"

Ribbon pointed to the sky outside the sole window in the shard's chamber. The queen looked out and saw that it was indeed a bit darker than it should have been.

"Well, it shouldn't be _that_ dark, but we should let the others know."

And so the two did. They whisked down the candy cane-like staircase and flew through the main corridor and outside the castle, approaching the center of the town.

"Fellow fairies of Ripple Star," Emily yelled loud enough for all to hear, "there is a possible chance of darkness, possibly a sign of something, heading for our planet."

No one raised a voice of dissent, as a mother fairy stood, her mouth gaped wide open and her bag of groceries now on the ground. She stared with horror as she saw the blanket of darkness head their way. More people turned their attention towards the sky, their looks mirrored that of the mother fairy.

The blanket of darkness sent a shiver down Ribbon's spine. There was something about it that made it feel so…evil…devoid of all life, but from her outward appearance, you'd think she was about to brave the darkness herself.

It didn't take long before the dark cloud was above the citizens. Normally calm and peaceful, the fairies were in an uproar and began to run around in a crazed frenzy. Some yelled for their young ones to come home, others were simply trying to get to their homes and lock the door. Even the fairy guards took notice at the abnormality before rushing into the palace.

Dixie looked on in fixed horror as the darkness began to cover the rich life that was Ripple Star. Everything in its path was engulfed in the thick black void. All that was pure was now gone in a cloud of evil.

Ribbon flew faster, faster than she ever could as she approached the castle. She whisked in as the doors locked, barring the darkness…for now.

"This staircase is longer than I thought," Ribbon muttered to herself as she finally arrived at the top of the ascending stairs. She saw the Queen in a frenzy running 'round and round the coveted Crystal Shard.

"What are we to do, queen! What are we going to do about the darkness!"

The Queen grabbed the shard, so worried she didn't even notice Ribbon until she placed the precious gem in her hands.

"You're the only hope left, Ribbon," the Queen told her confidently, though fear still lurked on her face, "and it's up to you to get help!"

Ribbon tried to protest. "But my queen--"

Queen Gretchen easily shook Ribbon, the fear now more evident. "You must be strong. We can't let that darkness get this shard. If they do, then it's over and our cause will be for nothing! This shard is our only hope of defeating the darkness, and I'm trusting that you can take it somewhere safe."

"But…I'm afraid to go out there alone." Tears were now streaming down Ribbon's cheeks, as well as the Queen's.

"Have faith that you will succeed, Ribbon. There is always hope is you believe you'll succeed." The queen then gripped Ribbon's hand tightly and spoke softly. "Don't worry, we'll be safe and I know you'll be back. For the sake of Ripple Star, Ribbon, you've got to do it."

The look of fear faded away from Ribbon's face and was replaced with a strong look of determination. She heard crashes, bangs, and screams of horror from the castle corridors. It would soon be coming for her.

"Quickly now, Ribbon, you must hasten!"

Ribbon put the want back in her pockets and gripped the Crystal Shard tightly. It began to glow profoundly as Ribbon was blasted out of the castle. She took one last look back at the queen, as she dried her tears and flew towards the stratosphere. She closed her eyes as the crystal shard penetrated the darkness' shield and Ribbon found she was free. Ripple Star was in major distress, Ribbon thought, and it was up to her to get help. All was nearly consumed in darkness save for the area she was able to escape from.

"Best I go on," Ribbon said as she wiped the dry tears from her face, as she pressed on. However, three negative energy balls emanated from the expanding Dark Matter and pursued Ribbon.

The fairy looked back over her shoulders, never letting go of the Crystal Shard. The three orbs began to open in the center, revealing villainous red eyes. Ribbon lost her focus and nearly collided with the asteroids that narrowly missed her. She saw it go on to the dark matter, but it mattered not. The asteroids didn't even faze the dark orb balls, and Ribbon was becoming desperate.

"For the sake of Ripple Star…" Ribbon remembered the Queen's words, as she pressed on. She flew faster, racing through space, but the dark orbs went on the offensive. One tried attacking from the right, but Ribbon dodged it. The second orb went for another strike, but it was a few inches shy of Ribbon's right foot.

Ribbon began to sweat bullets, but she couldn't tell at the speed she was flying at. She wanted to protect the shard, but her attention was diverted, so she pressed on what was most important. Unfortunately, this left her wide open. The second dark matter ball looked to the other two, then to the Crystal Shard, then to Ribbon. They came to an agreement and gave a great lunge at Ribbon, knocking her senseless and shattering the shard into millions of pieces and fragments that were scattered throughout the solar system. The orbs watched, satisfied that their deed was done.

Ribbon was falling fast, almost certain that she would meet her immediate destruction, when she saw a piece of the shard parallel to her. She flew with the last amount of strength she had left and grabbed the shard, never letting go of it. Her gaze turned towards the yellow star shaped planet she was heading towards as she fell faster and faster. There was no escaping the gravitational field, as Ribbon's vision began to blur…on and off her vision became distorted until she could hold on no longer.

The fairy took one last attempt to regain altitude, consciousness, and her life, but the efforts remained futile.

"_Have faith that you will succeed, Ribbon. There is always hope is you believe you'll succeed."_

Ribbon remembered the words the queen gave her before she fled Ripple Star. "Ripple Star's fate…is in my hands. I cannot fail them."

Those were Ribbon's last words before she lost consciousness completely and continued down to the yellow star shaped planet.


	2. All Is Well?

**Phazon**: I don't know, due to work and such, if this will be updated as quickly as most would want it to be, but I'll get as much done as I can, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**All Is Well?**

_Prior to Ribbon's accident_

"Where is it? Where is it? WHERE IS IT!"

Known hero to all and sworn fighter for the defenseless, his name was well known through Pop Star. Small and pink was he, but the villains weren't laughing when they were sucked in by a powerful gust of wind. The little but valiant pink puffball had the ability to absorb the powers of his foe and use them against him, but he hadn't learned yet how to control them.

"Why did I go out on that midnight star ride?"

Giving in and accepting the fact that his star rod was not on Pop Star, Kirby sighed and put the huge stone boulder back into place. A few nights ago, he traveled on his Warp Star for a sweep through the planets, but on his journey back, he lost his rod somewhere past Ripple Star. Now he couldn't travel between the planets himself, at least not for now.

"Cheer yourself up," he said to himself, "it's a beautiful day, the air is crisp, and you've got all the time in the world."

A grin found its way across Kirby's face as he set off to enjoy his day.

_---Later that Night---_

Night had fallen on Pop Star. The darkened sky was now illuminated with the lights of millions of tiny stars. On starry nights like these, one can hear water lapping down rivers and canals, the chatter of critters echoing throughout the forest. The cool air kept Kirby calm, as he remained perched upon the tiny hill he sat on, observing the wonderful night sky.

Kirby sighed to himself, taking in all of the exhilaration. "A beautiful night," he mused to himself. His gaze moved over to the abnormal amount of shooting stars that were shooting throughout the stratosphere. Kirby hadn't seen this before. Normally it was only one or two shooting stars, but this night, you'd think that someone had cut the stars' strings and threw them for miles. Kirby stood up and tried to see if any of the shooting "stars" were heading his way, and it was this that divided his attention. A tiny fragment of the now broken Crystal Shard fell from the heavens and landed atop Kirby's head, startling him a little.

"What in the…" the puffball muttered as he picked the shard, "Yes, I've heard of these before from that heart planet. When all pieces of the Crystal Shard come together, the power is tremendous. But…what's it doing here?"

He was too interested in the texture of the shard and how it continued to glow in his hands. Something else interrupted Kirby's peace, but this time in the form of a wailing screech.

Before Kirby could react, a tiny fairy fell from the sky at lightning speed, luckily bouncing off of Kirby's head and landing some ways from him, the shard never leaving her grasp. Two minutes passed, as she believed she was dead, but was surprised to see she landed in a safe haven for now. She landed safely on the yellow shaped planet and realized that the Dark Matter was no longer pursuing her.

"Thank goodness," but unfortunately for her, all hope was lost.

"My queen, I'm sorry I failed you, but I seriously tried," Ribbon muttered desperately, hoping her voice would reach her queen, but it was inevitable. She felt tears nearing her eyes, and despite the ever glowing Crystal Shard fragment, nothing was cheering up the little fairy from Ripple Star.

"Hey, hey, you! Did you drop this here?"

Ribbon's despair was interrupted by the words of a tiny pink puffball that was standing behind her. She didn't pay him much mind, but when he picked up the fragment he had found, her eyes lit up with sudden hope and joy. Flying easily towards him, Ribbon put forth her crystal shard and Kirby mirrored the action. A reaction began to occur as the two shards levitated before the two, the mystical glow growing even stronger by the second. At last, a brilliant flash blinded both Ribbon and Kirby, and when their vision had returned, Ribbon saw through the blur that the shards were now one, joined in a union and stronger than either individually.

Not completely understanding the situation, Kirby cheered ecstatically and hopped up and down into the air, Ribbon also smiled for the very first time, but there wasn't time to celebrate. Ribbon quickly grabbed the shard and began to speak to her newfound chum.

"I am terribly sorry for the intrusion, but we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Ribbon and I…used to live on my home planet, Ripple Star."

A light bulb went off in Kirby's head. "Yes, you all are responsible for the fabled Crystal Shard which has the power to combat all evil and darkness."

Ribbon wasn't so excited to hear about darkness again. She moved warily away from Kirby as she continued her tale of woe. "That is true, but our planet was recently overtaken by this Dark Matter, and my queen insisted that I be the last defense by giving me the Crystal Shard and sending me to get help. She sacrificed herself to save me, and now I believe the worst has happened."

"But isn't the Crystal Shard much bigger than this?" Kirby asked the fairy.

Ribbon pointed towards the night sky, where fragments of the Crystal Shard were still flying at rapid speeds towards other planets. "During my escape, I was ambushed and the shard is now broken into many pieces scattered across the system. It is my duty to restore order to Ripple Star and conquer this evil darkness, but I am just one young fairy. I do not believe I can do this alone, so I am at a lost. I've failed my planet…and my queen." Ribbon struggled to hold back her tears.

Kirby plucked up courage and came to Ribbon's aid. "I'm going to help you! I don't know much about this Dark Matter or where we'll begin, but I will do what I must to help save your planet just as I've had to do for mine."

These words to Ribbon felt as if her prayers had been answered, that she had someone looking down on her, or rather right in her face. Her face lit up with excitement and joy, the sorrow tears faded, the young fairy girl smiled at Kirby and agreed.

"Thank you and I promise you that we will save my home! But…I don't think I've gotten your name."

"I'm Kirby, the little pink powder ball that could. Don't be fooled by my size, you won't believe what I'm capable of doing."

Ribbon chuckled at Kirby's innocence and childlike behavior. "Did you just adlib that little opening?"

"Did you like it?"

"It was fine, but I think it's time we press on. But, this horrible journey has left me horribly famished. I don't believe I can go on now."

Kirby looked at Ribbon, then towards the night sky again and came to a conclusion. "You'll room with me at my place for tonight, and bright and early tomorrow morning, we proceed."

The fairy nodded her head in silent agreement.

Ribbon floated alongside Kirby as they walked down the lonely pathway leading to Kirby's cabin near a lagoon.

"It's not your typical accommodations," he said as he gave her the grand tour, "but it'll do for the night. Your bunk is right there next to mine."

Ribbon clutched the shard tighter. "All right, but I'm sleeping with the shard."

Kirby shrugged whatever he called his shoulders and smiled. "Aww, there's no problem here. This cabin's so isolated that barely anyone notices it when they pass by."

Confident that the Crystal Shard was safe, Ribbon removed her little shoes and socks and settled into the unexpectedly comfortable bed she settled into. When she turned over to bid good night to Kirby, he wasn't there. Suddenly, the feeling of darkness overcame her and she trembled in her bed, sweating bullets once again as she hid under the safety of her covers.

An oval figure materialized outside her sheets, furiously poking at her body until she cracked. Frantically trying to save herself, Ribbon kicked and kicked and wailed and screamed, hoping the figure would go away.

"Save me, queen!" Ribbon sobbed. "I don't want to do this alone! I'm afraid and don't leave me alone here to die!"

In the midst of her hollering, the covers came off of her, revealing Kirby standing over top of her with a slice of chocolate cake. Her screaming subsided as he looked at her with his big innocent eyes.

Kirby set the plate at her side. "I figured you were a bit famished from your travel, so I brought you some food to calm your nerves."

Acting out of herself, Ribbon grabbed the plate and began to devour the cake, small crystal tears still flowing down her face. Kirby consoled her.

"I know this is a new thing for you, being separated from your home and not knowing how to go on, but I'll protect you. I'll cover your back, and you'll be there for me. Just trust yourself and trust _me_, Ribbon. If we're together and we trust, the Dark Matter will never touch this Crystal Shard and we'll save your planet."

Kirby could tell his words had an effect on Ribbon, because her tears soon subsided and a huge grin came over her face as she realized how scrumptious and delectable the cake was.

"Did you cook this yourself?"

Kirby patted his stomach. "You learn a lot when you get to be like me. Glad to see you're feeling better."

"I'm sorry, but I guess I'm still a nervous wreck. But I suppose a night's rest will get me back to full order."

It was Kirby's turn to agree, as Ribbon settled in under the covers once again, this time she easily settled into a deep sleep.

Kirby watched Ribbon as she slept so peacefully, like an angel that had fallen from the sky, which is sort of how he saw it as. Comfortable in knowing that she was alright, his gaze turned towards the night sky through his windows.

He let out a sigh as he saw shards still scattering, careening to who knows where. "Well, looks like we're in for quite an adventure."

_The puffball now settled into his respective bed and cut the last source of illumination off. He then drifted off into a deep rest just as Ribbon had_.


	3. It Begins

**Phazon:** As those who've played Kirby 64 know, the game is split up into planets and different zones from there. For this story, I'm not going to ramble off each chapter as Area 1:2, etc, but I'm going to blend in as many of the levels as I can, possibly all of them. So whilst reading this story, expect to revisit some of the many familiar locales that veterans visited in the Crystal Shards.

**It Begins**

The light from the new morning sun radiated through the circular windows in a little cabin at the end of a dirt path. A new day brought new possibilities for the inhabitants of Pop Star, and the beginning of an adventure for two individuals was about to begin.

Coupled with the rays of the sun, a birds morning call awoke the tiny fairy from her slumber. Still drowsy, she shuffled back in forth, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and getting her clothing back in correct proportion.

"Well, guess I better get started on breakfast. We've got a long way to go."

Fairies on Ripple Star learned at a very young age to be very proficient in cooking and cleaning. Not so they could learn to be some housewife, but they enjoyed seeing all things in perfect order, and this was no exception. From the dusty comics under the beds to the later crackling of hot bacon on the stove, Ribbon had the house in a better condition than when it started, and the sun was still rising.

"No, I don't wanna go back to the Puffball academy."

Ribbon was startled at hearing Kirby's drowsy voice as he got out of his bed, did his ten second stretching, and walked over to the kitchen, still completely unaware of what was happening. Then he saw Ribbon floating before him with a plate in her hand, complete with a spread out breakfast platter.

"Eat up," Ribbon said, "this adventure will be no good on an empty stomach. Now dig in!"

Before Kirby could even protest, Ribbon began to fork up some food and put it in Kirby's mouth.

Ribbon explained she was just so eager to begin their adventure, and Kirby remembered the promise he made to her last night. So, with the Crystal Shard in tow, some extra food in case they got hungry, and full of hope, the two friends set forth, leaving the tiny home behind and embarking on a great adventure.

* * *

It was a lovely, crisp morning on Pop Star. You could hear the distant sound of little ones laughing, a birds wing cutting through the air, water lapping, but for Ribbon and Kirby, it was the sight of a Bobo running up and down the country lane, ablaze for them to see. It was then that Kirby realized that there were some baddies that had invaded the land prior to Ribbons crash landing, but they never posed any serious threat.

"We're going to have to blow this flame out first," Ribbon concluded.

Kirby chuckled at the bad joke before employing his signature move. Shuffling his feet, he took in the biggest breath he could at the moment, Ribbons grip on the crystal shard was hindered and she felt the wind blow harshly as the Bobo tried running away, but it was useless against Kirby. The creature gave one last screeching wail before it was in the depths of Kirby's stomach.

Ribbon slowly approached Kirby and was about to poke his pink exterior, but the second she tried to, that soft pink exterior turned into a flaming fireball as Kirby catapulted himself forward down the dirt lane. Ribbon gave chase after him, jumping over the columns and platforms, keeping up with the fireball the entire time.

A few feet later, Kirby regressed from his fiery form unharmed, while Ribbon finally flew to his side.

"You all right there, Kirby?"

"Just. Getting. Used To. The. Effects. To. That," Kirby panted. He explained that somewhere along the line, he could inhale his foes if he were able to, and should these creatures have a certain type of power, it would not be infused in Kirby until he disposed of the power or took advantage of it.

Continuing along, Ribbon saw a lone shard floating above them. Hastening, she flew up to it and retrieved the crystal, adding to the ever growing Crystal Shard. They arrived at the edge of the lane, jumped across the tiny ravine and were standing before a tiny cottage home being guarded by a pair of Sir Kibble creatures. They took their fighter stance and armed themselves with their plumes.

"Tally ho, my brother," Sirkibble 1 said to 2, "an intruder is what we have here."

Sirkibble 1 and 2 threw their plumes towards Ribbon, who flew out of the way. Kirby charged forward and tackled the second to the ground before incinerating him with the petite fireball attack.

"KIBBLE TWO!" Sir 1 exclaimed. He took out a lance and began to parry at Kirby, evading each attack.

Watch out, Ribbon warned her chum, but Kirby was more than confident. He withdrew the fire elemental crystalline from his mouth, waited for the right moment, and threw it towards Sirkibble one, causing a bond between the two elemental powers of fire and cutter into a green and red combination.

Kirby inhaled the new concoction, and in an instant, he withdrew a flaming sword, kicked in the door to the cottage. Nothing there

Ribbon floated towards the other entrance, but the door was locked. Up above her, a giant N-Z materialized and was falling towards her. Kirby came to the rescue and grabbed her before she was crushed. Kirby scoffed at the giant bobbing head thingy.

"These things are like critters, just run around and around and never do any good."

Fighting words are what those were, as the giant N-Z jumped into the air and caused the ground to vibrate when it landed. Still, the two were not impressed.

"I give you ten seconds," Ribbon began.

It took less than that, even. Kirby rushed towards the N-Z with his flaming sword, gave three forward slashes and a final cut. The N-Z was immediately disposed of and the other door immediately unlocked.

Ribbon floated behind Kirby as they continued down the path, coming upon some cannons that were firing into the air. Kirby tried slashing through them, but to no avail.

"Its no use," Ribbon said at last, "they must be made of some impenetrable iron or something like that."

Kirby grew bored of his flaming sword, so he disposed of it and threw it skyward. Ribbon was most displeased.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Ribbon, Ribbon, one power gone," he stopped as he heard an explosion and saw that a Poppy Bros. Jr was throwing bombs their way, "means another one is in store."

The fairy ducked as a bomb headed her way, while Kirby ran forward, bounced off of a Bouncy for leverage, and took a nose dive towards the Poppy Brother. The brother took out one bomb and lit it, but before he could throw it, both he and the bomb were engulfed by Kirby's monstrous suck up technique.

As Ribbon caught up to him, Kirby's stomach suddenly expanded as the bomb went off, but he was soon back to normal, albeit he coughed up some smoke in the process, as well as spit out a cap with a skull on it.

"Its a spicy-a meatball-a!" Kirby said, as he jumped over the next ridge and combined the power of the bomb with that of yet another fiery Bobo. Yet again, a new mixture had been formed.

* * *

Little Waddle Dee spent some of his days as a guardian at a castle a ways from where he was now. For the past hour, he was intrigued in a tiny diamond fragment that he had found. Like Kirby, he was drawn by its texture and mystical powers, but he wasn't alone.

A dark circle formed behind Waddle Dee and took the shape of a Dark Matter eyeball, just like the ones that caused Ribbon to land on Pop Star during her escape. Waddle Dee turned to his left and the eyeball was not there, he looked up, and he was dumbfounded again.

"Whatever-" he muttered to himself. This was his downfall. He did a complete 360 turn and stared the Dark Matter straight in the eye.

_Subject has been located with Crystal Shard in hands. Preparing to go on the offensive._

The Dark Matter took to the skies, and Waddle Dee couldn't follow it without having to protect his eyes from the suns rays.

"I cant see," cried Waddle Dee, but the Dark Matter could see _him_. It took a nose dive and went straight for Waddle Dee himself.

When he could see-it was too late.

* * *

"Ribbon, stop playing in the water!"

The fairy pouted as she lifted out of the lagoon, tripping over a black framework situated strangely in the water. She tapped it, and it felt hollow. Suddenly, the Crystal Shard she held began to react.

Ribbon yelled out to her accomplice. "Kirby, get over here!"

Stopping on the road, Kirby, with his new fireworks ability, launched himself over to Ribbon. Each firework explosion he created was greater than the last, and it still had the bomb power in it.

"Something strange about this black fixture bothers me," Ribbon called out again.

As Kirby took the final jump, the chain reaction of fireworks reacted with the black fixture, destroying it and revealing yet another piece of the Crystal Shard.

"I think we better keep an eye on what powers you get," Ribbon said to Kirby as they continued along the dirt path. They chatted as they walked, though a butterfly soon caught Ribbon's attention. Kirby saw a little red puffball, shaped just like him, lying in the middle of the path surrounded by gates.

"That you, Waddle?" Kirby called out as he went over to tap his ally. The figure awoke, new life sprung into it.

Waddle Dee's vision was completely covered by a veil of darkness, as if someone had taken over control of his body.

_Subject Ribbon has survived her crash with Crystal Shard in tow. Destroy subject._

A giant eyeball took the place where Waddles face would be. He lunged forward at Ribbon, but he didn't have wings and he couldn't fly. Taking the opportunity for an open attack, Kirby rushed forward and head-butted Waddle Dee into a nearby fence, sending him into a temporary daze.

As Kirby went to Ribbon's aid, Waddle Dee regained composure and jumped sky high, creating a shockwave when his feet hit solid earth. With Kirby shook up, Waddle sent a series of punches to Kirby's puffy exterior, causing minimal damage to the puffball. Kirby quickly counterattacked and Waddle Dee was sent back a few feet.

Angry as a bull, Waddle charged again towards the two. Ribbon and Kirby split and Waddle Dee ran smack dab into a fence, as two tiny stars materialized from his sides.

"Ribbon, grab one of the stars! I've got an idea!"

With his minor headache gone, Waddle Dee saw Ribbon standing at the opposite side of the battleground, presenting the Crystal Shard before her.

"Here you go, Mr. One Eyed Freak!"

Now redder than ever, Waddle Dee gave another charge, but at the last second, Ribbon threw the Crystal Shard into the air, which was captured by a floating Kirby. What was now in Ribbons hands was the star she picked up, and she flung it at full speed towards Waddle Dee, stopping him dead cold. Kirby threw the shard back to Ribbon as he charged his firework ability up. He was now set to go off at any second.

Waddle Dee got back up, battered and ready to give in, but the Dark Matter wasn't about to lose.

_Subject is stronger than we determined. Must last this and retrieve fabled Crystal Shard_.

Before he even noticed, his vision was now a mixture of greens, blues, reds, and blacks as Kirby was set off his attack. Waddle Dee was beaten and the darkness emanated from his body and flew away, dropping a Crystal Shard fragment.

Kirby and Ribbon rejoiced and gave a high-five, celebrating their victory. Waddle Dee rubbed his forehead and saw the two before him, but before he could say anything, Kirby waved goodbye- thanking him for the shard- and headed off.

Watching them go off, Waddle Dee made up his mind. He rushed towards the fence where he would catch up to them.

Ribbon's wings fluttered with new determination. "I've got a good feeling about this, Kirby! Let's press on!"

As they did, Waddle Dee appeared at their side, running alongside the two of them.

"I'm coming with you!"

"Then you better keep up," Kirby called, a grin on his face as the sun began to set, "we've got a lot of work to do!"

Stronger than ever and their faith reassured, the trio of Kirby, Ribbon, and Waddle Dee ran further, leaving the calm pathways and heading into the autumn forest.


	4. Shades of Autumn

**Phazon:** Just because of my situation, it's only necessary that I update this story as quickly as I can, but I am unsure of how long this trend will keep up, but I assure you that the wait for most chapters will be worth it. Rest assured, I will not lack in quality when dealing with a game like Kirby 64.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**Shades of Autumn**

"Wait up, Waddle!"

Kirby charged through the mounds of multicolored leaves as he and Ribbon ran after their new accomplice, Waddle Dee. He said that him going ahead to get ready for something else was more important.

"What could _possibly_ be of more importance than retrieving the crystal shards?" Ribbon wondered to herself, brushing some red leaves off of her dress.

Nonetheless, Kirby was continuing along through the nice and peaceful forests. Many had come here to muse in the quiet where all was at ease, but there was no ease for Ribbon and Kirby.

As Kirby rushed down the pathway, he took the opportunity to dispose of the fireworks ability he had recently acquired in lieu of something more favorable and suitable for the occasion. At the same time, he wanted to bask in the richness of the autumn forest. Browns, greens, reds, oranges, and yellows were abundant wherever he and Ribbon went.

Ribbon looked ahead and saw there was a giant log in the distance with a huge hole in it, but it was quite far from their current position. She fluttered her wings in anticipation.

"I'm sure Waddle Dee went in there," Ribbon said to Kirby.

Kirby bounced off of some Bouncy creatures or leverage, catapulting far into the air before once again taking a deep breath and inhaling not one, but _two_ Bobo creatures.

"Ribbon," Kirby said quietly, "I suggest you prepare to quicken up this journey through the forests."

She was confused. "And why is that?"

The pink puffball jumped into the air, pointed straight ahead, and then, in an instant, became a giant curling fireball, blasting through Poppy Brothers, Sirkibble knights, far down the pathway.

Ribbon found herself getting lost in the abundance of leaves, but she followed the ever loud hum of the charging fireball. By the time Ribbon caught up to Kirby, he was perched upon a floating log cutoff suspended somehow in the air.

"Hello, Ribbon," Kirby said nonchalantly as he grabbed a piece of fruit hung high in the tree.

"Are you sure you should be eating something that grows in these forests?"

Kirby talked in between chews. "Mmmm…it's not poison or anything, it's healthy fruit! Everything that grows around here is good for the body and heals you from any ailments."

Ribbon rolled her eyes unimpressed.

"All right, not _every_ ailment, but you get the point."

The two chatted idly as they hopped over some huge logs. Well, Kirby hopped over them at least. Ribbon enjoyed taunting him with her ability to fly high, but Kirby jokingly threatened to suck her up. However, the talk was held up when a Sparky was blocking the entrance.

"Oh no," the Sparky exclaimed, "Kirby's here already! All right, boss man said 'Sparky, you need to hold off that pink puffball as long as you can. That's what life's all about.' But to me…"

Whatever the Sparky was musing over would have to wait, for he was now in the depths of Kirby's stomach. Kirby jerked to the left, to the right, and suddenly let off a shockwave of electricity that shielded his body. A force field of electrical current was now protecting him from any harm.

"Apparently I _do_ have a lot to learn," Ribbon said to Kirby.

Kirby signaled her into the giant tree opening, and they didn't find rotting worms, corpses, twigs, and leaves strewn about the terrain. It looked like a normal little interior of a tree, but the insides didn't have pink and green decorated stumps…or ascending stumps leading to the top.

Ribbon surveyed her surroundings. "Wow…this world you live in is…pretty strange and new to me."

Her musings were interrupted when three Pupas descended from the ceiling level they were on, dropping right in front of the startled little fairy.

Ribbon yelled like she never yelled before, grasping the Crystal Shard harder than ever, but Kirby stepped in, pushed her aside, and held his breath. After ten seconds passed, his body let out a large jolt of electricity, completely disintegrating the first two Pupas on his left. He shimmied to the right and the remaining Pupa retreated, but the string it was attached to began to give way.

"Come on…" Kirby muttered from within the electric shield.

With a snap, the string came loose and the Pupa screeched as it was blown away by the electric force.

Relieved, Kirby jumped up the series of floating stumps to the top level, where a bouncing Cairn was busily hopping away, trying to reach the ceiling.

"Do you plan to absorb this one?" Ribbon asked quizzically.

Kirby didn't answer; he just took out the electrical crystalline, waited for the Cairn to jump high enough, then walked right under it. It hit the ceiling with a thump, but as it looked down, the creature could do nothing as it fell into Kirby's concoction; yet another power discovered.

"Do electric and rock go together well?"

"We'll have to find out eventually," Kirby responded to the girl. He peered slowly into the opening, and saw there was the entrance to another tree…a long _very_ long route across a large gap that Kirby couldn't reach.

As Ribbon neared the edge, he saw there was a platform under him that he could step on, and looking higher above him was a log with cables that held the platform in place.

"Looks like someone's been waiting for you to come," Ribbon concluded.

And indeed someone was. Waddle Dee jumped down from the higher log and explained that he would forward the contraption by walking along as if the log were above water. He began his trek, walking smoothly across the log and never losing his balance.

Ribbon was not the least bit worried, for she simply flew across to the adjacent log. However, when she looked behind and saw Kirby and Waddle Dee moving slowly along, her eyes were distracted by something shiny they were about to pass.

The tiny fairy yelled out to the other two puffballs. "Hey Kirby, there's a Crystal Shard piece where you're about to pass over."

Taking this as a perfect opportunity, Kirby hopped off of the log and grabbed the shard, but at the same time, he had to attempt floating back to the log. Once Waddle started moving, he couldn't stop or slow down. Kirby puffed and huffed as hard as he could, but he could tell he couldn't huff any higher anymore, until he felt something beneath him guiding him towards the other log.

Kirby was most grateful to Ribbon for helping him out, but Waddle Dee told them to hurry along, for there was another Crystal Shard nearby.

They walked inside the log, but stepped back to avoid the sticky mucky nonsense strewn about the ground. They looked up and saw three Glunk creatures, amoeba thingies that shot out these balls of gunk. Kirby launched his attack, but it wasn't what he expected. Instead of an electric bolt, a rock with a long electric strand forced its way from the depths of Kirby's stomach and obliterated the Glunks, yet it remained bouncing from wall to wall inside the log.

Waddle Dee and Ribbon moved out of the way, but Waddle nearly fell into the huge gap where they were nearing. The rock found its way back into Kirby's mouth, and Waddle Dee looked down the hole, there was an even deeper hole that they'd have to jump into.

The Crystal Shard began to react once again to whatever was inside that deep hole, so the three had to jump down together, but Waddle took it upon himself to jump ahead to clear the path.

"Kirby…" Ribbon began, hesitantly. "Please hold my hand."

Kirby obliged and took the young fairy's hand. She took a deep breath as the puffball and fairy jumped down, falling stories below and into the deep, dark hole leading to who knows where.

-------------------------------------------

Deep pasts the autumn forests was a tiny little spring area where people came to be alone and do what they pleased without the bothers of other people.

In the midst of this spring area was a high elevated log that had on it an easel, some art supplies, and a person.

A young girl picked adjusted the red cap on her head as she picked up her paintbrush and dipped it in the red dispenser of paint. She gave light strokes to the easel, not being too rough or soft on her soon to be masterpiece. When she was satisfied that she had used enough red, she dipped the paintbrush in water to disperse any red left and began to decide over another color.

"Maybe I should paint myself a new hat."

The young girl's name was Adeleine. She'd just arrived on Pop Star recently via warps and wanted some peace and quiet to work on her art, but Adeline's work was not like that of just _any_ artist. Anything that the little girl painted instantly came to life…if she wanted it to. She simply had to give the go or hold and the work of art would instantly pop out of the easel and into her hands.

Adeleine wasn't so wrapped up in her work that she wouldn't notice anything else. As a matter of fact, her eyes went wide opened in shock as something shiny and glittery flashed right next to her and landed at her feet. The girl turned and bent at her feet, picking up the strange, yet pretty looking shard she held in her hands.

"Now here's something I can paint."

As Adeleine dipped her paintbrush into the blue, a black oval materialized over her easel, but she wasn't aware of this yet.

_Subject has been sighted in forestland area with Crystal Shard. She plays, finds the jewel amusing, yet completely unaware of the power it possesses._

Adeleine felt she wasn't alone and quickly whizzed around at her easel, but it still had the same streaks of red that she had left previously. Nervously, she placed the shard fragment in her pocket and went back to picking colors to create a replica of it. The Dark Matter appeared once again, staring ominously at her pocket where the shard was sticking out.

"I'll start with the light shade of blue and work my way to other colors," she muttered to herself, once again turning to her easel.

This time, however, Adeleine stared the Dark Matter eye-to-eye. She stumbled back, but was careful not to fall off of the log she was situated on. It mattered not, for the second she tried to jump away, the Dark Matter lunged forward at her.

-------------------------------------------

"Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down…"

Waddle Dee grew tired of the repetition of the giant pink Bouncy that was bouncing about in the room that he had landed in.

"Hey," Ribbon called to the giant monstrosity, "how about unlocking the door and letting us out?"

"Bouncy feels giant now, greater than all those that were his same size before."

Kirby leaned over to Ribbon. "I don't think he hears us." He then stood on his feet and looked to Waddle Dee, who mirrored his standing motion.

"I'll get the big one, and you get the smaller ones," Kirby told Waddle Dee.

When Waddle Dee showed signs of agreement, the plan commenced. Waddle Dee bounced off of the wall and went for the horde of young Bouncy springs.

Kirby looked at the towering Bouncy, many times greater than its smaller counterparts, but he feared not. With the combo still intact, he spit out the electrical rock and it found itself wrapped around the giant Bouncy's spring. Even while receiving the jolts of electricity surging throughout, the Bouncy continued to bounce.

Ribbon gave some words of advice. "Try swinging it around at the walls and see what happens."

Kirby took this advice well and began to lasso the Bouncy around like a rodeo clown, slamming it into the walls. Ribbon moved out of the way when the giant Bouncy headed her way.

After swinging it around enough and certain that there was enough electricity coursing through its system, Kirby let the giant Bouncy free of the electric rock's grip. Dazed and confused the Bouncy was, losing its balance and unable to jump as high as it could.

Waddle Dee punched out another petite Bouncy into a wall when he surveyed Kirby's battle. "Go for the final strike, Kirby!"

He indeed did go for the final blow, as he catapulted himself high above the Bouncy and fired his rock right into the cranium of the beast, toppling it completely as it exploded into nothingness. Out of the creature's core came a Crystal Shard fragment, which Ribbon added to the main one she held.

The door before them suddenly opened, revealing a long and empty pathway through the forests and ended up in a clearing that they couldn't see yet.

"Come on, then!" Ribbon said to the others. "There can't be too many shards left on the planet."

-----------------------------------------

Adeleine thrashed about, kicking over stumps and wailing as loud as she possibly could. Her body was in immense pain…or at least she hoped it was her body she had control over.

"What's…happening to me?" Adeleine asked herself, not in her sweet and kind voice, but a more demonic and evil one.

_You own this body. The pink one and his fairy friend are coming soon with Crystal Shard. Disperse of them immediately and destroy this body when finished._

The Dark Matter possessed body jumped upon the log in a dismount and looked about. Before her she saw three beings heading her way.

Kirby ran as fast as he could to the girl, but suddenly stopped, causing Waddle Dee to bump into him.

"Excuse me," Kirby said to the girl, "do you know the path out of here?"

Adeleine's eyes were finally opened, showing the same type of emptiness that Waddle Dee showed. She gave a fierce shriek as she pointed her paintbrush towards Kirby.

"Do battle with me for the shard you possess!"

Kirby thought to himself. "I recognize that voice," but before he could state the obvious, Ribbon did it for him.

"She's possessed!"

Waddle Dee and Ribbon easily stepped to the side as Kirby stared face to face with the possessed painter. She grasped her paintbrush tightly as she headed to her easel and painted a picture of an N-Z creature.

"Great," Waddle Dee said to himself, "she's gonna beat him with arts and crafts."

"Come to life, I say to you!"

The N-Z lunged forwards out of the easel and lunged forward at Kirby, who was not impressed.

"Is she serious?" He thought to himself. He didn't have to put muscle into it; he simply grabbed the N-Z drawing and slammed it into the ground.

Adeleine steamed. She went back and painted not one, but _two_ new creations: carbon copies of a TEAR-an creature and a black Mariel spider. This time, Kirby shot the electric rock that plowed through both foes.

Once again, the artist was beginning to grow angry. She went back and furiously worked on two better creations, or so she hoped. One was a flying white ball with a red eye for the center, and the other…some form of digital data in ball form. Kirby dispensed of the ball easily, but he tried sucking up the data to see what would happen. The data ball was unaffected and Kirby ducked out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Come on Kirby," Waddle Dee called, "you're putting up a fight! She's a little girl!"

The rock blasted through the data and Kirby looked over to the artist. "Is that all you got?"

She didn't respond, but had another ace up her sleeve. A tiny dino creature, but painted blue and obviously rushed in order to be placed in battle. It spit out an ice block that Kirby jumped on top of and threw back at the dino, freezing it in its place.

"Now for the wind up," Kirby backed up easily and fired, shooting the electric rock as it bounced against the frozen dino, but clearly damaging it, as it began to be less visible. Kirby gave it another one and this time, the dino was obliterated.

Adeleine took one last effort, something that she _knew_ Kirby couldn't defeat: a replica of the Dark Matter eye.

The eye jumped from the painting and looked to Ribbon and her shard, but she feared nothing, as the creature was not real.

Kirby shot once at the eye, twice again, and the third blow from the electric rock blew the Dark Matter eyeball away.

"Grrrr….now you're gonna get it!" Adeleine said as she jumped from her log and began to wave her paintbrush wildly at Kirby. He played along and dodged her blows.

"Will you end it already!" Waddle Dee shouted.

"Like you said Waddle," Kirby responded, "she's a little girl! She doesn't know what she's doing with all this Dark Matter business. Besides, I don't wanna hurt her."

So instead, Kirby took a deep huff, waited for Adeleine to come yelling his way like a maniac, and gave a long and loud exhale. The sudden gust of wind was too strong for Adeleine as she flew straight into a tree stump, knocking the Crystal Shard out of her pocket and into Ribbon's hands as she grabbed it in midair.

The Dark Matter energy quickly retreated for the sky, but he looked in the distance and saw a castle…with someone in high stature and authority leading over it. Hastening, the Dark Matter headed in that direction.

Adeleine brushed the leaves off of her green shirt as she stood on her feet. She felt as if she'd been plowed down by an express train.

"What…happened to me?"

Ribbon glided over to the confused painter. "You were possessed by Dark Matter. It's a complicated situation, but you went on a rampage and tried to attack us."

"The good news is you're okay," Kirby continued, "and we got what we came for, so we'll be on our way and leave you to your art."

"Wait," Adeleine stopped them in mid-walking. She went over to the log and grabbed her art supplies, easel, everything that she had and put it in her sack, then went back to the gang. "Please allow me to accompany you. I'm sorry for what I did, but I assure you my art will be of great use and then some."

Ribbon looked to Waddle Dee and Kirby, then back to Adeleine. At last, she spoke to her. "Sure you can come with us."

"It'd be nice to have someone else to hang around with," Kirby added. Waddle Dee simply nodded in agreement, but he didn't look too excited.

Adeleine was so ecstatic that she ran ahead of the group, who followed after her.

"Hey!" Waddle Dee yelled, "stop running in front of all of us! You don't do that…"

He was so focused yelling that he didn't notice that Adeleine had stopped dead in her tracks. He ran straight into her, causing Kirby to run smack dab into Waddle. Ribbon simply floated next to Adeleine.

"Something wrong?"

Adeleine pointed ahead to what looked like a spire of a castle. The four ran through the neck of the woods and found themselves in the clearing…and Adeleine was right. Before them was a great castle that looks as if it could've touched the sky.

Kirby looked over and saw that someone or some_thing_ was lowering the drawbridge that led to the inside.

"Come on," Kirby motioned for the cavalcade to follow, "now's our chance!"

And they all followed behind the pink puffball and ran towards the strange castle they discovered.


	5. Dethroning the King

**Phazon**: All right, everyone, we're nearing the end of the gang's journey on the planet Pop Star before they venture to Rock Star. The chapters thus far were just methods of introducing the gang, and the one following this will feature the battle with the world boss. When the story enters Rock Star, there will be detailed ventures of each level and journey in between. So enjoy as the story begins to unfold.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**Dethroning the King**

Adeleine was in such a hurry that she dropped her paintbrush and had to rush back to retrieve it. By the time she picked it up, she saw that the others were far ahead of her.

"Wait for me! I'm the new one in the gang!"

But Kirby and the others took no notice. Before their very eyes was a magnificent castle with many staircases, windows, and, hopefully, another Crystal Shard for the heroes to retrieve.

"Come along now," Ribbon said to Kirby and Waddle Dee as the drawbridge was lowered entirely, "we haven't time to waste."

However, Ribbon stopped when she saw a Ghost Knight standing at the entrance to the castle, armed with his lance.

"You're the rotten ones who are tryin' to gain entrance into the castle here?" He asked them, menacingly. "Well, by orders of Dedede, you can't enter."

Kirby stepped forward, then shot towards the Knight in a flash with the petite fireball attack. To his surprise, the attack suddenly stopped. The Ghost Knight had held its guard down with its shield, and when Kirby was withheld from attacking, he jabbed at the pink puffball furiously until he could take no more.

The Knight held his lance to his side and prepared for another attack, but Waddle Dee struck him from above, crushing him against the gravel and concrete. With the creature disposed of, the three continued into the opening of the waiting castle.

Kirby immediately saw another staircase ahead of him, yet there were other openings that led to elsewhere. Finely trimmed shrubbery aligned the ascending staircases and sides, whilst decorations and lovely paintings added a dash of color to the otherwise dismal castle.

Rather than try fighting another Ghost Knight, Kirby disposed of his flame elemental power and absorbed the Knight instead. Upon hearing the cries for help while being absorbed, numerous foes advanced on Kirby, surrounding him on all sides until he could no longer be seen.

"KIRBY!" Ribbon rushed to aid her friend, but Waddle Dee held her back.

"What are you doing? Kirby's in trouble!"

Waddle Dee shushed her. "Trust me, he's got everything under control."

And he did. As the horde of foes surrounded Kirby, they saw tiny pores and holes appear out of Kirby's body, and it began to take a different shape, almost similar to that of a…collection of needles of some sort.

"He's gonna do it!" Another rogue Ghost Knight yelled.

Before the enemies could retreat, they each felt the life drained from them instantly as needles and spikes penetrated their bodies, piercing them piece by piece. In the center of it all was Kirby, completely unharmed and acting as if nothing had happened.

Ribbon floated to her friend. She was relieved he wasn't harmed. Then she turned to Waddle Dee.

"Guess I should start trusting him more often."

He nodded and they followed Kirby into the next room at the end of the ascending staircase. This room was not as lit as the previous, and also of a different sort. Above them and in different locations, there were star lamps that illuminated this section of the castle. To their left were some painted windows, colored with yellows, purples, reds, greens, and blues. Floating before them were some Pteran birds that eyed Kirby menacingly. All of this was such a distraction that Kirby hadn't noticed that there was no path for them to cross.

"Looks as if that one platform there takes you from this side to that other side," Waddle Dee deduced as he pointed across the room to the other side where there was a waiting door.

Ribbon swiftly flew to the other side of the large room and signaled for Kirby and Waddle Dee to come. Kirby ran quickly towards the edge, bounced off of a Pteran bird, and plunged forward with the fireball attack. As soon as he landed, he disposed of the power and waited for Waddle.

"Gotta time this just right," he said to himself as he backed up. Taking a deep breath, he ran as fast as he could towards the end of the platform and lunged into the air and across the huge gap. Waddle felt himself losing altitude and closed his eyes, but he didn't continue falling to nowhere, he landed on solid ground alongside Kirby. He then felt something tapping his shoulders.

"Well," Kirby began, "looks like there's a way out of here. The three walked into the next room and looked up. Above them were some platforms that led to an exit shaft to the outside of the castle. However, in between these platforms were some Gordos creatures. These creatures were floating black balls with spikes protruding out of the balls. The space they were in was very cramped, so they had to trek carefully.

As Ribbon ascended, she kept her eyes focused on the exit above and didn't until it was too late that a Gordo spike tore a little on her skirt. It wasn't a big tear, but Ribbon wished she had paid attention. Waddle Dee and Kirby saw Ribbon make it to the exit and reach fresh air again. The two puffballs doubled up and jumped with great height to the top. They landed safely next to Ribbon.

The little fairy wiped some smut from her skirt. "Nice to be out of that place," she said. But as soon as she did, the Crystal Shard began to react again. She turned around to Waddle Dee, but she didn't see Kirby. "Let's ask that Sirkibble knight I just saw if he knows where the shard is."

Waddle Dee looked around. "What Kibble knight?"

Ribbon whipped around to where she saw the knight, but it wasn't there anymore. It was only Kirby, looking a bit more expanded than before. Ribbon eyed him suspiciously.

"Kirby?"

The pink puffball didn't respond. He didn't want the Kibble knight to burst out of his mouth. Even though that wasn't possible, no matter how hard it tried. Ribbon lost patience.

"Spit it out, Kirby! Whoa, not at me!"

She turned him around and he spat the Kibble knight out, sending it forward across the castle structure and right into the back of yet another Sirkibble knight at his post. The next thing the three of them knew, a larger green crystalline structure sat atop one of the platforms. Kirby rushed over and consumed it, yet this power was unknown as of now.

Waddle Dee and Ribbon treaded the top of the drawbridge lightly in the event that the person who lowered it before would do it again.

At last, Kirby found another gap near the end of the walkway. It led right back into the castle, which didn't sit well with Ribbon.

"I cannot believe we have to go _back_ into that disgusting--" Her words were cut short when Waddle Dee simply kicked the fairy into the shaft. She screamed for her life, until she realized that she _did_ have wings, so she stopped herself just before she landed on the dark green platform beneath her.

Waddle Dee followed suit, but Kirby was still thinking about this new ability he had. As he jumped down the shaft, he gave it a shot, throwing out a brand spanking, enormous boomerang. It immediately burst through the platform, uncovering a Crystal Shard that the three would have missed. Ribbon jumped for joy as she added the shard to the growing one. As they continued to the next room, they saw Adeleine busily painting away as if nothing had happened.

"How did you get in here?" Waddle Dee asked the painter.

"I've got my ways," she replied confidently, "but guess it took you all longer to reach me, eh?"

The others were dumbfounded that Adeleine, who they thought they had left behind, could suddenly get this far into the castle.

"Well, did you get the Crystal Shard?" Ribbon asked Adeleine, whose confident smirk soon faded from her face and was replaced with one of nervousness.

Adeleine sweat-dropped nervously and just giggled. "Um…I haven't exactly…found it yet. Come on, I don't have time to look for some shiny jewel."

Kirby and Waddle Dee backed away from Ribbon, who was _very_ cross. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists as she floated over to Adeleine, grabbed her by the ear, and began to speak harshly to her as if she were Adeleine's mother.

"We are here to find the Crystal Shard, not play around with paints!" She dragged her from the room and into the next corridor, a larger and dimmer room with some ascending staircases. "You wanna deal with your paints, then we're gonna paint!"

Kirby and Waddle Dee quickly ran after them, jumping up to each platform and step. As Adeleine kept turning around to ask Kirby for help, she saw something glittering on a large framework where they had come out of.

"Look, look," Adeleine exclaimed, "another crystal shard!" Ribbon immediately let her go and turned around to see Kirby already going for the gold. He grabbed it and threw it straight to Ribbon. However, the Crystal Shard was still growing violently, possibly from what was at the very top of the castle. Ribbon picked up the pace, but Kirby took the opportunity to consume two more Bobo creatures for the double fireball attack. Continuing along the spiral staircase, they found a dangling chain that led to a higher level.

Adeleine ventured first, waving for the others to follow her. Ribbon was at first distracted by the spring water pool in the center of the room, but she followed suit. Waddle Dee and Kirby easily climbed to the next level and surveyed their surroundings. Around them were numerous chains strewn about the level they were presently on, but there was one in particular that led to a hole in the ceiling with light emanating from it. Ribbon whisked up to it.

"The last shard must be up here," she deduced as she flew into the open shaft.

Kirby, Waddle Dee, and Adeleine hurried over to the same shaft and climbed the chain to the exit. However, their mouths were quickly gaped open, just as Ribbon's was. In front of them was a stature of authority, the supposed ruler of Pop Star who looked more like Santa Claus in a penguin suit. He wore a bright red coat and hat and was getting a bit flabby around the middle. Many times in the past he's caused Kirby trouble, but at heart, he's not a real villain, just another guy with his head in the clouds. His name was King Dedede, and his attention was soon diverted by the glowing shard fragment right behind him.

He immediately grabbed it before the little pink puffball could do so, and the two eyes met, glaring at each other with daggers.

The king spoke with a deep, threatening voice. "Kirby."

"Dedede," Kirby responded.

The two…had their differences in the past, but this time it was over a shard. Kirby continually tried to grab it, but he wasn't tall enough to take it. He could easily blow Dedede away with the larger fireball attack, but he feared what harm he could do. Before he could try an attack, something thick and black crash landed between the two of them. It was the same shape as that figure that possessed Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and that had pursued Ribbon during her escape. As the group watched with daunting eyes, the figure's red eye appeared, scanning the arena.

_As she continues, the fairy one keeps finding more Crystal Shard pieces. Clearly she is not going to let her planet suffer without a fight._

The eye then turned its attention to King Dedede.

_New test subject has been located with Crystal Shard, similar to the two former subjects. Preparing for infiltration of body._

"You can't just burst on top of my castle like you own the place!" Dedede growled.

He soon came to regret those words as the Dark Matter consumed his entire body, suspending him in the air while the others watched. After ten seconds, he fell back to the ground with a thump. Kirby tried to see if the King was alright, but when Dedede got in Kirby's face with those same lifeless, empty eyes, it became apparent that the King was indeed alive, but not himself.

Dedede revealed from his right hand a large mallet that he sent towards the concrete near Kirby. The puffball shuffled to the right, then back to the left as Dedede went on the attack. He began to take evasive action.

Adeleine couldn't just sit there while the person who saved her life was being attacked. She picked up a paintbrush and tapped her hat. "I've got to do something!"

Waddle Dee rolled his eyes. "Sure, we're all going to play our part." He didn't realize how serious she took this, for Adeleine soon went running off, brandishing her paintbrush as she rushed towards Dedede.

The king had Kirby trapped in the corner, and he didn't even have to turn around to notice the high pitched wail coming from behind him. The second he believed Adeleine was in striking range, he simply raised his hammer, and the painter, with her eyes closed in rage, ran straight into it and stumbled to the ground.

Kirby took this opportunity to give a hard tackle to the king's stomach. Kirby then took to the air and aligned his body with the sun, so only his shadow was visible to the others. He took a nosedive towards Dedede and his body suddenly became a raging fireball, plunging straight into Dedede and knocking them both into the castle below. Kirby pushed and pushed, the fireball attack never waning as he gained more power and dug deeper through the concrete, taking the king with him into the darkness.

Ribbon jumped for joy, as she was sure that Kirby had done it. They couldn't see what was happening, it was far too dark to see anything. All they could her was the fading sound of Kirby's fireball attack.

But suddenly, the area began to rumble loudly and the three of them heard Dedede's evil growl. Waddle Dee backed up immediately as the King burst through another hole in the roof, a shield of darkness surrounding him with Kirby on top. The puffball jumped off just in the time before the shield expelled itself. Dedede was now floating in the air and his body began giving off negative energy shockwaves that Kirby ducked and dodged. Kirby launched another fireball attack towards Dedede once, then twice to get the message straight, but a shockwave stunned Kirby temporarily. The king began to channel his energy into a massive energy ball. When Kirby opened his eyes, he saw the monstrosity aimed right at him, but he had an idea. He removed from his mouth the double fire elemental crystal.

"I wonder…" he pondered as Dedede finished powering up. Kirby figured, if he could make an electric rock, what harm could fire do to negative energy? He soon found out as he threw the element towards the ball of energy. It was quickly absorbed in a flash.

Ribbon knew that the Crystal Shard had the power to repel darkness, but she wasn't sure if the shard was powerful enough yet.

Dedede sent the massive ball forward and Kirby shut his eyes. He did, however, hear a sharp blasting sound that sounded like the ball was being deflected. There before him was Ribbon, with fiery eyes of determination as she deflected the energy ball with the petite Crystal Shard she possessed. It took a lot of effort, but Ribbon's gaze never left the Crystal Shard. The energy ball groaned and gave off electricity.

"Ribbon…" Kirby said softly.

"Attack him while his attention is diverted!" Ribbon yelled as she knew it would only be a few seconds more before she blasted the ball back into the air.

Kirby went on the offensive as he jumped into the air to Dedede's level, floating just as the penguin had been doing. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and felt his body surge forward yet again in a powerful flame, hurdling towards Dedede.

At the same time, Ribbon launched the energy ball high above them and into the stratosphere. Next thing everyone knew, there was a huge explosion of darkness that caused the vision of all to go black. The explosion was heard throughout Pop Star.

-----------------------

Ribbon awoke minutes later, groggily and tired, as was everyone who viewed the explosion. At her left side was the gathered Crystal Shard thus far, so she was happy. However, she saw another tiny Crystal Shard fragment floating to her right. She inched her way over to it and added it to the other shard.

Kirby watched the Dark Matter retreat to the sky until it was out of his vision. He saw that his friends were safe, but he focused on helping Dedede back on his feet.

"What happened?" The king asked as he rubbed his forehead.

"Dark Matter…possessed…crystal shard…" Waddle Dee grew tired of telling this tale. Adeleine motioned for the others to head down the castle by jumping off. Adeleine painted herself a parachute to land with, while Ribbon and Kirby simply floated down.

As they went, King Dedede went back to his business when Waddle Dee approached him. "You know," he began, "we need someone with a lot of strength to help us on our journey."

Dedede didn't have to think twice before he turned his back to Waddle.

Waddle Dee walked over to the edge of the castle and took one last look towards King Dedede, but the king made it clear he wasn't coming.

"Have it your way," Waddle Dee concluded as he jumped off of the edge of the castle.

"You were better off without them," the king said to himself. More and more he quarreled with himself before he made up his mind and rushed towards the edge of the castle after Waddle Dee.

Adeleine was still floating down because her parachute slowed her descent. Waddle Dee sped right past her and landed aside Kirby and Ribbon. He looked up and saw something large that was falling towards Adeleine.

"You may want to pick up the pace, Adeleine," Waddle Dee called to her.

Adeleine was puzzled. "What for?"

She soon found out as King Dedede landed on top of her and the two fell towards the earth. Waddle Dee quickly jumped up and caught the two before they hit the ground. Ribbon pointed towards the forested area where the shard was reacting to.

The newly formed group entered the forest area, walking past millions of trees until the Crystal Shard reacted violently to a tree in the center of the forest with a dirt path circling it. Ribbon floated next to the tree.

"Maybe the shard's buried inside the tree."

Then, the earth trembled as four tiny saplings emerged from the dirt path. The tree did a 360 and faced Ribbon and Kirby with menacing eyes. Kirby gasped as he recognized those familiar eyes belonging to the Whispy Woods.

"Star warrior, we meet again."


	6. Wilting Whispy

**Phazon:** All right then, I'm making one minor altercation to the Bomb + Cutter attack, but it's the same attack overall. Right now, I'd like to respond to KirbyDjinn.

The _wand_ to _rod_ changes have been made, and as far as Kirby's knowledge of the Dark Matter, I never gave any specific point as to _when_ this story takes place, though I know it's way after Kirby's other fights with Dark Matter. Just follow along with it. And by the way, I've _completed_ Kirby 64 in its entirety and _know_ about O2 being the final boss, not the Miracle Matter, so you do not need to tell me what I already know. That is all, and thank you for the review.

This chapter will be relatively short, seeing as it only wraps up the adventures on Pop Star, so we won't be getting too deep into Rock Star until the next chapter.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

--------------------------------------------

**Wilting Whispy**

"Look out, Ribbon!"

King Dedede came in, swinging at the tree stump that was viciously trying to take the Crystal Shard away from the fairy. It growled and howled upon feeling the thump of the King's hammer.

Kirby faced the Whispy Woods and spoke. "Seems you're always getting planted where I can find you."

The tree expressed his bitterness as well. "Things haven't changed, have they, little puffball?" The Whispy Woods looked out of the corner of its right eye and signaled two of the four saplings to take aim and blow violent winds at Kirby.

Upon hearing the inhalation of air, Kirby shut his eyes and stood his ground. His last recollection before reaching the Whispy Woods was collecting a Sir Kibble knight and Poppy Brother, creating a Bomb and Cutter combination. He'd been taught that this new concoction required speed and concentration, so he had to wait.

Adeleine and Waddle Dee held the other two stumps back as the other two perked up and blew gusts of wind towards the stationary Kirby. This was the opening Kirby had been waiting for.

"Waddle, Adeleine, let go!"

The two did, and Kirby instantly ran towards one stump, jumped over the powerful gust, and placed a strange black star on its body. In an instant, Kirby was behind the second stump, vanishing and reappearing all over the stump until its eyes nearly popped. When it returned to normal, the stump was face to face with a grinning Kirby.

"Enjoy the explosions!"

He backed away as the stump realized that it also had a strange black star device on its body. It shook furiously, dug into the earth, but it didn't budge. Kirby stood in the center of the battlefield and watched in amazement, as did his crew. The black stars detonated and the stumps cried out for their other brethren to help them, but they didn't. The explosions were small, but the energy within was enormous. Smoke and dust billowed everywhere. When it cleared, the stumps were only half of their former self.

"I say," Ribbon whispered to King Dedede, "Kirby's quite the little ninja with those stars of his."

The Whispy Woods grew furious and ordered the unharmed stumps to attack, yet they were quickly held in place by Adeleine and Dedede. Waddle and Ribbon stood firm behind the other two stumps, and Kirby turned back towards the Whispy Woods and grinned.

"Say good night to your saps," Kirby said as he vanished instantaneously. Adeleine backed up as Kirby instantly appeared in front of her and placed a black star on the stump and vanished. The process repeated for the last three and Kirby took his place before the great tree in mere seconds.

"My saplings," the Whipsy Woods cried, "retreat to the earth before you are destroyed!"

But it was far too late. The second the four saplings tried digging into the ground, the multitude of black stars detonated and their bodies immediately began to disintegrate from the fiery explosions. The dust cleared once again, and there were four tiny craters within the dirt path. Now the Whispy Woods was furious. It began to glow a violent red as steam billowed from all sides of it.

Adeleine felt the earth tremble beneath her. Suddenly, she gasped as she saw something escaping from the tree and coming towards her. A lump in the earth crept faster and faster until a root plunged from the ground and emerged beside Adeleine. Waddle Dee and the King noticed similar roots appearing next to them and began attacking the roots, but their feeble punches and jabs had little effect.

Kirby stepped in and quickly threw a black star onto two of the roots, while the other two retreated to the earth. Those still on the surface took the force of the explosions, but they did not show any damage and they didn't shriek out in agony. Instead, they followed their companions back into the earth.

The Whispy Woods was angry once again. It began to glow a violent red as it shook to and fro furiously. Many apples emerged from the tree and landed alongside the warriors. Adeleine bent down to pick one up, but Kirby whizzed over and stopped the girl before she made a grave mistake.

"What's the matter with touching one of these apples?" Adeleine asked demandingly.

She soon found out as the tiny apples _popped_ and exploded before her very eyes. The earth began to tremble again as the four roots were seeping from below and emerging. Adeleine looked back to Kirby, who had long vanished and was back to chipping away at the roots. King Dedede and Waddle Dee tried latching onto one of the roots and holding it in place, but the Whispy Woods noticed this and took action. Turning in their direction, he blew a harsh gust of wind their way until they could hold no longer. They went in separate directions, but remained within the battlegrounds.

The Whispy Woods was in a desperate situation. The roots were stationary, and couldn't attack like the young saplings could. The most that the giant tree could do was hope that the intruders would touch the explosive trees or be blown away by the wind, but both of the attempts were avoided. The tree could feel its life force fading…fading…faster as the young star warrior continued hacking away at its roots.

"Retreat, quickly!" The Whispy Woods shouted in an enraged howl. It was glowing even more profoundly than ever, and Kirby smirked when he saw how crossed the tree was.

"_Just one more sequence"_, he thought to himself as the Whispy Woods once again let forth a mass amount of apples. Adeleine was sure not to touch them this time, though. Ribbon swiftly flew to Kirby's side.

"Something troubling you, Ribbon?"

"I know no one said it, but I don't believe this tree has been possessed by Dark Matter, as far as I know. If it _were_, we'd notice something demonic about it."

Before Kirby could respond, the roots emerged again, and Kirby instantaneously vanished from Ribbon's side, transporting from one root to the other as he planted black stars on all four roots. Kirby reappeared alongside Ribbon as he told her to watch the fireworks.

The Whispy Woods tried pulling the roots back into the ground, but they were held back by the explosive stars. It shook furiously, shaking off more apples and even some leaves as it desperately tried to get the stars removed from its roots, but the roots were not going anywhere. The Whipsy Woods would be going somewhere, though.

"Noooo……"

Four simultaneous explosions banged around the field as the roots took the full force of the explosions, and the surge of these blasts went straight to the center of the Whispy Woods. It warbled, garbled, and groaned as the potent power burned away at its life, little by little. Finally, there was an explosion that came deep from within the Whispy Woods as its life ended there on the spot. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, the gang was ecstatic to find the final Crystal Shard fragment on the planet floating before them. As usual, Ribbon added it to the ever growing one that would continue to expand as their adventures continued.

---------------------------------

"Wait a second, you guys. There's a problem here."

Everyone stopped walking down the path and turned back to Adeleine, who was looking towards the sky.

"If the rest of the shards are on the other planets, how are we going to get there?"

"Simple," Ribbon quickly responded, "the Queen mentioned to me once before that the shard, if powerful enough, can be used to get to different destinations. But it's a rare occasion that we've ever needed to use it for interstellar travel."

"No problem," Kirby bucked up, still with his ninja power, "I'll just teleport myself there." He vanished and reappeared behind Waddle Dee. "After all," he said as he vanished again and reappeared behind the King, "I am the pink puffball that could." He vanished once again and was behind little Ribbon.

"Sorry Kirby," Waddle Dee spoke up, "but the effects of that tiny teleport of yours are only useful in combat and you can only vanish and reappear for _very_ short distances."

Kirby's hope was dashed as he gave a long frown, but there was no longer any time to frown. The Crystal Shard floated before them with an aura surrounding it. It flashed profoundly as it became a visual star that showed locations of other planets and such. The planet shown on the star was of a rocky sort, with lots of terrain and dry, arid deserts.

"Rock Star," Ribbon said, floating in front of the star, "very dry and hot there. But if there are Crystal Shards there, we can't waste any more time. The journey in between planets takes very little time."

And with that, the fairy flew into the star and vanished like that. Kirby, Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede all looked to one another and back to the portal that led to the next planet.

"Looks like we're gonna be leaving Pop Star for awhile," Kirby declared as he jumped into the portal.

Waddle, the artist Adeleine, and King Dedede followed suit as they all jumped into the portal. When they were all in, the star reverted back to the shard with the aura surrounding it. It shot towards the sky, leaving Pop Star behind and heading towards Rock Star.

--------------------------------

Kirby groaned as he turned on his side. He noticed he was not on Pop Star anymore, for there were no more trees, creeks with flowing water, or birds that were cheeping or chirping. Instead, he awoke to a dry desert, cactuses about, and the sun beating down on his body.

The puffball heard some other groans as Adeleine, Waddle, and Dedede awoke from their slumbers.

"Looks like we made it," Adeleine said. "But where did Ribbon go?"

Like lightning, Ribbon was flying towards them from a different direction.

"I found some old ruined places some distance from here when the shard started reacting again. Come on, we've got a long way to walk."

"WALK?" Adeleine whined emphatically. "Goodness, Ribbon, I'm just a little kid. I shouldn't be doing this."

Adeleine felt something overcoming her as she was lifted onto the King's heavy back. "I regret this, kid, but your painting skills are gonna do us some good. So either put up or shut up."

And the little painter girl _did_ shut up.

It was always hot in the scorching deserts of Rock Star, which is why barely any people inhabited this region, save for the foes who became accustomed to the climates.

Suddenly, Waddle Dee looked ahead…it wasn't a mirage…it was a fountain of water just begging for human lips.

"Guys," Waddle Dee called, "I can see the water from here!"

Kirby rolled his eyes. "Waddle, there is no water over there." Suddenly, _he_ looked in the same direction and his eyes widened. "It's the most delicious piece of chocolate double fudge cake I've ever seen!"

Kirby and Waddle Dee ran towards…what they believed they saw, when suddenly, the sand trembled and the ground swallowed Waddle Dee whole.


	7. Trekking the Desert

**Phazon:** Time to get this story moving along. We're picking up from Kirby's triumph over the Whispy Woods and the gang's traveling to Rock Star via Warp Star. I apologize for the delays, but I was working with finals, and I'm trying to get as much out of a chapter as I can. Crystal Shards is a huge game, and I don't want to simply slap a chapter together without it being as detailed and enjoyable as I can make it, so sorry for the slight delays and I hope you enjoy.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

----------------------------------

Kirby called and called and called again Waddle Dee's name, hoping that the sand would spit him back out.

Adeleine walked over to the spot where Waddle was swallowed and tapped at it with her paintbrush. King Dedede walked over and bopped the artist over the head with his hammer.

"Girl, I don't think the red puffball is coming back up any time soon."

The King walked along the path with Ribbon trailing behind, when the sand began to rumble again.

The sand trembled as King Dedede stepped back, grasping his heavy hammer firmly. A large gaping hole as a giant Kany emerged from the sand, with a familiar red puffball on the back.

Ribbon scratched her head in confusion. She'd seen Kany creatures on her home planet in Pop Star, but never this large.

"There's barely any food on this area of the planet, so what gives?"

Before anyone could respond, Waddle Dee kicked the giant Kany in the head, stunning it and sending it back to the sand, causing a huge shockwave.

"Do NOT go under the sand!" Waddle Dee advised his friends before they decided to continue.

Walking in the sand under the blazing sun proved difficult for Kirby and his crew. As they searched for the area Ribbon spoke of, Adeleine looked towards the sky and saw something coming towards her.

"It's raining umbrellas!" She exclaimed in excitement.

They were actually Bumbers: walking orange balls that had umbrellas for hats. Adeleine painted herself a trampoline to jump and catch a few for the gang to cover their heads from the sun. They continued walking along until they saw two bouncing Kacti guarding the entrance to the structure that Ribbon spoke of earlier.

Kirby looked to his right. "Waddle?" The red puffball nodded in compliance as the two went on the offensive. Kirby had taken the time to absorb a Rocky creature awhile back, so he ran quickly towards one of the Kacti creatures, his body slowly becoming much more massive and bulky until the pink puffy exterior was replaced with a rough and rocky feature. Raising his left hand, the rocky Kirby sent his fist into the cactus and sending it deep into the adobe structure.

Waddle Dee was careful not to touch any of the needles on the Kacti creature, but because he couldn't find a smooth surface, he focused and sent his foot towards the Kacti as it sailed aimlessly into the structure, crashing to who knows where.

The troop walked carefully into the structure, Dedede coughed slightly as some sand fell from the ceiling and landed in front of him, creating small dust clouds.

"Guys, look," Adeleine looked through a telescope she had painted and saw an escape shaft at the far end of the structure. Barring their way, however, were some I3's: green cubes with mean looking eyes. Like certain other blocks from another universe, the I3's would come crashing down if one came close or under their path. Kirby saw that overtop of the I3's were some dark blue blocks that kept the I3's from rising to the ceiling. He grabbed onto a Pteran bird so he could get a better view of the escape shaft, but something else caught his attention.

Kirby looked down to the others. "Come here, Ribbon," he called as the fairy made her way to his side. Something shiny and mystical wasn't that far in front of them, and they both knew what it was. Ribbon wasted no time grabbing the Crystal Shard fragment.

"I can't believe the progress we're making," the little fairy said to Kirby. "And here I thought it would be impossible."

Before Kirby could respond, he saw that Adeleine and Waddle were using some Cairn creatures as catapults to launch themselves into the open shaft. As they got closer and closer, Adeleine painted herself a loose shirt to cover her face from the quick falling sand. Kirby and Ribbon soon flew over and up into the shaft where the King was already waiting.

Dedede was losing patience. He, Ribbon, and Kirby were now on top of a large sandy hill encased a very small room, almost as if they were being set up. Nothing was happening, but the Crystal Shard began to react vigorously. There _was_ another fragment, and they intended to find it.

Kirby began digging away at the sand and was so into it he didn't happen to hear Waddle Dee and Adeleine finally arrive into the room. But their eyes were all fixed on the shaft suddenly closed by itself.

"It's a trap!" Waddle exclaimed. As soon as he ran up the sandy hill to the exit, in front of him materialized a Kacti creature. It bounced before Waddle Dee for a few seconds before it charged and started rolling down the hill. He jumped to evade, as did the others, whilst the Kacti crashed into the wall with a thunderous boom, causing even more sand and debris to fall.

Adeleine wiped some sweat from her brow, but backed off when she saw a miniature Kacti bouncing next to her. It slowly edged towards her, but the painter was ready. She painted herself a flamethrower that was used to incinerate the cactus, but another took its place.

At the bottom of the sand hill, Kirby rolled down the hill as his body formed into a rock again. The thick and dense body crashed, slammed into the giant Kacti. As it tried rolling around to regain composure, a shadow from above it came crashing down as Kirby's thick body penetrated the Kacti's defenses. The Kacti tried rolling over and on Kirby, but the puffball was no longer a puffball, but solid rock that made waste of this monster cactus.

When it exploded, taking its other Kacti underlings with it, the beast left a Crystal Shard fragment that Ribbon caught. The doors on both sides opened, revealing yet another room with quick falling sand, but there was a ladder at the far end of this new room. Of course, the entourage bravely walked through it. As they did, however, they were met with another locked door behind them, but no giant Kacti. This time, sand began to accumulate very quickly until it was inches above Adeleine's socks.

The painter and Dedede made their way to the hammer, but Waddle Dee beat them to the punch. The red puffball looked back to Kirby.

"I'm going ahead to find a clear way out." Kirby and Ribbon nodded as they joined the others. They made it to a safe level of blocks they could cross, but the sand was rising still, coming out of every crack or hole in this adobe prison. Making their way to the next level, they saw a Sandman creature suddenly pop out of the walls. Sandmen were light yellow blobs of sand with huge, black eyes and did not pose a serious threat. The Sandman looked over and spoke to the troops.

"Beware, fighters, I cannot be defeated so simply. Many have tried and failed, for as you see…"

All while this was going on, Adeleine was busily painting a small vacuum cleaner. When it came to life, she walked in the direction of the Sandman.

"…not even the _greatest _Sandman of them all could be trounced by such--" Its words were cut off when it was sucked into Adeleine's vacuum cleaner. The painter looked at her friends.

"_Anything_ I paint comes to life."

She didn't have to remind Ribbon and Kirby that, as the memory of their fight against her when she was possessed was still fresh.

It took some time and a lot of effort, but the gang soon arrived at the top of the structure, meeting a ceiling, and the sand showed no sign of stopping.

"Where's Waddle Dee?" The King questioned demandingly.

They all got their answer soon enough when they heard some rumbling and thumping coming from the ceiling above them. After enough noise, the ceiling cracked and a hole started to form. When the ceiling gave way, Waddle Dee was there on top of the structure, waving down to the others.

"Told you I'd find a way out of here," he remarked smugly. Kirby and Ribbon flew out together, whilst Dedede grabbed onto Adeleine.

Adeleine was frightened. "Hey, I was just gonna paint myself a trampoline!"

But the King had no intentions of waiting around for her to pull out her easel and go to work. With one quick, swift motion, Dedede threw Adeleine skyward and out of the hole, but the painter was able to save herself from crashing by painting a parachute. Dedede grew tired of this little girl outwitting him. He looked towards Waddle Dee and asked him to pick up a rock.

"How accurate do you think your aim is?"

Waddle Dee grinned. "Good enough to sink that parachute." And so he did, he grabbed the sharpest rock he could and sent it Adeleine's way. The rock made its mark as it burst through one end of the parachute and came out the other. The laws of gravity were now having their way with Adeleine as she came closer and closer towards the rocky terrain. She was saved when Kirby caught her just in time.

"Let's just move on," he concluded as they hopped down the adobe structure. As King Dedede brought up the rear, he snapped his fingers when he saw that Adeleine didn't hit solid ground.

As the exit soon was covered by sand, Kirby jumped down the different levels of rock before he unexpectedly landed on an unusual yellow and brown structure that was different from the rest of the terrain around him and the others. He took note of this for later.

King Dedede had discarded his heavy coat he wore as king and had Adeleine place it in a bad she had drawn up.

Ribbon saw that not too far from them was an area that looked like an abandoned or destroyed castle ground. Whatever it was caused the Crystal Shard to react, but the shard also reacted strangely to the yellow and brown structure that Kirby recently passed. She wondered why, but she couldn't be bothered by that now.

Kirby landed on the sand with a 'poof' as he began walking up the long, ascending sand hill. Ribbon began flying to the top of the hill, but she passed some orange floating balls that looked so similar to Kirby, but not really. Ribbon approached one of the floating creatures and smiled.

"Hello, there!" She called. As she continued along, the floating creature went demonic, now only having one eye and mean looking teeth. It growled and yelled at Ribbon, who immediately whipped around to see…the same orange ball with the innocent eyes. The fairy soon passed over two other orange floating creatures, but when she floated pass, they repeated the same motion as the first. Ribbon began to grow suspicious.

"O….k, I could've sworn those thingies were looking mean at me," she said to herself.

Kirby called to the fairy from the ground. "Ribbon, those are Scarfy creatures! They play innocent, then go demon when you don't look at them. They use that time to strike, so look out!" The creatures went for Ribbon, but one was soon deflated by a pop rock that came from a slingshot Adeleine had painted. Waddle Dee jumped high and went for the second, whilst Kirby floated into the air, eying the Scarfy.

"Suck it up," he teased as he inhaled deeply. Unfortunately, the Scarfy did not move, but kept grinning at Kirby. It quickly chomped onto Kirby's cheek and smiled devilishly. Kirby tugged and tugged, but the Scarfy did not detatch. Both Kirby and Waddle Dee knew what was coming next.

"Oh, no…," Waddle Dee said to himself.

"What's the problem?" Adeleine asked Waddle as they continued to watch Kirby strain to pull the Scarfy off of himself.

"Scarfies self destruct when they choose to!"

It was too late to do anything about it, the demonic Kirby doppelganger exploded and sent Kirby high into the sky, screaming for his life. After an odd twenty seconds, the pink puffball was falling fast and landed feet first into the small tide pool that was situated at the top of the sand hill.

"OK, that does it!" Kirby said as he stood up. Looking down the opposite side of the hill, he saw a Sparky creature and remembered the Rock/Electric combo he had before when he fought the giant Bouncy. This gave him an idea. As he picked up speed whilst running down the hill, he pulled out of his mouth a brown elemental crystal and tossed it towards the Sparky, concocting the Electric Rock combo.

Adeleine rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, Kirby, it doesn't hurt to try something _new_ once in a while."

If there was one thing no one did, it was question Kirby's ability in a negative manner. Adeleine found herself running down the hill and back towards the brown and yellow structure with Kirby running mad behind her, firing the electric boulder every couple of steps.

The painter found herself cornered with her back against the structure, Kirby staring at her. With a huff and puff, he spit out the electric rock and Adeleine swiftly dodged, but it didn't end there. As opposed to the rock bouncing back, it shattered the structure and revealed a Crystal Shard fragment hidden within it. Ribbon was quick to get it.

Adeleine had a sly look on her face. "Works every time."

"You knew?" Kirby inquired.

"When we passed this thing, the Shard started reacting, but no one seemed to notice it, so I looked at the pattern and figured it was worth a shot."

"Stop chattering, you two," Ribbon called from the sky as she pointed in the direction of the church fairgrounds. "There's probably more shards in that direction."

Soon, Waddle Dee, Kirby, King Dedede, and Kirby were sliding down the other side of the hill, but they stopped when they saw some mean looking cactuses staring at them and chomping down whenever they tried to proceed.

"More Kacti creatures around here?" The King asked.

"No," Waddle Dee answered, "those are Gobblins. They're immune to any type of harm and always bite down on anyone who tries passing their way.

"We'll run on three," Kirby figured. As the pink hero counted down, he found that the others had long run ahead of him and were heading into the ruined church area. Kirby sighed and ran after them as they left the desert and entered better territory.

-------------------------------------

Whilst the five walked through the grassy meadows, Dedede started talking of how great it was not to be back in the hot, arid desert. The others agreed and simply stopped for a moment to admire the cool, crisp atmosphere that was light years better than the area they just came from. Adeleine was silent, however, which was confusing to the others.

Ribbon floated back towards the painter and asked if there was a problem, but Adeleine was busy at the moment. In her hand was a sketchbook, and in this sketchbook were various drawings and small sketches that looked similar to the areas they had visited thus far.

"I'm trying to keep track of the places we've gone to so far and how many shards we find in the locales," Adeleine explained to Ribbon, who understood the concept. "So far, there were only three shards found per area, meaning that there are lots scattered on the different planets."

"I say it's time we take a break to plan how we'll go about into this ruins area," Kirby suggested. Adeleine smiled and agreed as she painted a picnic blanket for the group to sit on and enjoy some goodies that were prepared by paint.

Kirby picked up an apple and quickly gobbled it, savoring each taste more than the last, but never forgetting his mission. He looked over to Ribbon, who was actually enjoying herself.

"Say, Ribbon, aren't you worried about us just sitting here and relaxing while your planet could be getting worse?"

Ribbon smiled. "I'm trying to focus on the positive things of now. If I'm always worried about Ripple Star, I'll never enjoy what we're doing now. The Queen told me that if I believed I'll succeed, everything will be fine. And with you all around, Ripple Star will be saved and the Crystal Shard will be as strong as ever."

The others nodded and agreed with what the fairy told them, but she had more to say. She yawned and slowly laid on her back.

"But before we head into those ruins, let's just rest awhile."

_Looks like Ripple Star's in good hands after all_, Kirby thought to himself. He yawned also and slowly closed his eyes, drifting off into dreamland, as did the others.


	8. Shards in the Ruins

**Phazon**: Kirby and the gang are still on Rock Star, but I'm trying to create some conflicts and tiny quips between the characters. We know pretty much the jokesters, the mother figure, voice of reason, that sort of thing, but it won't conflict much with the main story at hand. Those of you who have played Kirby 64 know that most levels are not connected and we do not see how the characters progress from one level to the next, so that I'll have to come up with myself. By the way, the reason for the delay is on FF's part. The Document Manager is not letting me upload any HTM or doc file, so I unfortunately have to upload a txt document, erase that, put the Kirby chapter into here, and get everything formatted, so my sincerest apologies if anything does not come out the way it was when I typed it. I hope is able to fix the problem, otherwise I will be editing and sorting for quite some time, but I will not dawdle with the chapters. Plesae enjoy the next chapter of the Shard saga.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

-------------------------------------------------

**Shards in the Ruins **

Kirby awoke to the sound of tolling church bells. He groggily turned on his side and came eye to eye with King Dedede, who was eying him suspiciously.

"Welcome back to Rock Star, kid," the king said to the pink puffball. Kirby felt as if much time had passed since he had fallen in asleep, when, in fact, not much had happened at all.

"How long was I out for? Feels like I've been sleeping for days and months and we were too late to save Ribbon's planet from darkness. Oh, goody me, now I have guilt! I couldn't help it, but Adeleine prepared such a delicacy for us to feast upon, from the cakes and pies, to the little treats--" Kirby's words were cut off when Dedede covered his mouth with his own.

Dedede had to chuckle. "It's only been twenty minutes." He pointed to his left, where Adeleine and Waddle Dee were occupying themselves with a football Adeleine had painted. Ribbon stood on the sidelines and watched.

Standing on his feet, Kirby looked at the others. "Only twenty minutes? Well, guess we'd better get moving."

The others overheard Kirby and followed suit. Kirby had disposed of his electric/rock combination in lieu of something different. As he picked up the lone Sparky, he saw three pillars in front of him with Kacti creatures bouncing atop them. Once he jumped, then twice, then on the third jump he threw the wailing Sparky and it combined with the Kacti, bringing forth another concoction. Kirby jumped onto the pillar and absorbed the elemental crystal.

Ribbon was continually amazed at how much she was learning about Kirby. She couldn't believe that this random generator of various power combinations was the same innocent creature she met on Pop Star. She flew to his side as he hopped down the third pillar.

"Kirby, exactly how many combos are that you can create?"

Kirby smiled and continued walking. "Ribbon, you haven't seen anything yet." His attention was diverted by a shadow on the grass in front of him. He and Ribbon looked up to see a Scarfy floating above them. Kirby looked to Ribbon and told her to back up. When the fairy was far enough back, Kirby's body changed shape, this time into the form of a small lightning rod. Immediately, a bolt of lightning struck Kirby's body and obliterated the Scarfy. Seconds later, Kirby returned to normal.

Adeleine ran towards Kirby to congratulate him, but she stopped when she eyed a mean looking hammer that stood parallel to her.

"Those are Hacks," Kirby told the painter. "Small stone hammers that like to rush right through anything. Best you be careful, or…Adeleine, wait--"

Adeleine charged towards the stone hammer with a similar hammer that she painted. She was sure she would win the duel, but her hammer was soon shattered and the Hack tackled Adeleine so hard she flew into the pillar behind her. As the Hack laughed to itself, it felt a tap from someone else. Once it turned around, a giant hammer came crashing down and crushing it. Dedede grinned whilst he heard the Hack screaming under the weight of his hammer.

Waddle Dee went to help Adeleine, while Dedede made sure there was nothing on his hammer. There was nothing, but before he could walk on, he heard a faint rumbling noise, but thought it nothing. The second he tried to move on, Dedede was pulled back by Kirby in time to stop him from being crushed by the giant pillar in front of him.

"Thanks for the save, puffball," Dedede said to Kirby as he cautiously approached the next pillar. In all, there were four pillars, but Dedede found his way over when he grabbed a Pteran bird, which was entirely not enough to take the King's weight. He safely landed on the other side next to some Bouncy springs and waited for the others to make their way across. Ribbon, of course, flew, as did Kirby when he floated over, Waddle Dee was able to jump the entire distance, though he had to carry Adeleine on his back in the process.

Dedede led the others up the small ascending staircase as he smashed through another Scarfy creature that eyed him wrongly, as he did with the Ghost Knight that tried to block their way. As he stopped for a second by a pillar, he heard a thump come from the other side.

"Sounds like something big and angry is on the other side," Ribbon said softly.

Kirby took a peek and discovered it was only a wild Nruff: hairy, brown pigs that loved ramming into whatever they saw fit. This one in particular was running between two pillars without a care in the world. As it ran towards Kirby's direction, it gobbled down the chocolate ice cream bar that Kirby was eying. The puffball was now fuming mad. It immediately went down on the Nruff and pounded the life out of it, but it didn't cough up any ice cream.

"And I'm really hungry, how do you like that?"

Adeleine jumped across the floating platforms above Kirby, as did Waddle Dee and King Dedede, who was quick to take out another Scarfy that didn't get a chance to eye him. Kirby joined them, but tried something different. In front of him were a Sparky and a blazing Bobo creature. Normally, Kirby avoided combining Fire and Electricity, but he had to give it a shot. He absorbed the Sparky and spat it at the running Bobo, creating a new crystalline that Kirby absorbed. Waddle Dee approached Kirby and spoke.

"I'd be care if I were you, Kirby," Waddle said as he pointed to the stone arches before them. On top of them were Rocky creatures, basically rocks with eyes and legs that fell on top of anything beneath them. Kirby, being as calm as he was, took out a thin electrically charged sheet of paper out of nowhere. He looked to the others.

"You all may want to move back," he advised. He then rapidly rubbed the sheet of paper on his head for about seven seconds, and immediately at the seventh second, Kirby's head was aflame and he found himself blazing down the path and past the stone arches.

"Friction burn, I assume," Ribbon said as she flew after the burning puffball. Adeleine, Waddle Dee, and Dedede took out the Rockys that fell when Kirby passed, then caught up with Ribbon and Kirby.

When they finally caught up with Kirby, with the flame dead, they saw he was staring at the strange fixture in front of them. It must have been a building in the form of an ancient coliseum, but completely ripped and torn down until only…these remains were left.

Kirby examined the structure from top to bottom and started floating to the top of it, where he came eye to eye with a pair of Mumbiess- floating gray and white balls that had no way of attacking except for floating into someone. Kirby floated for a few seconds and blew out a small puff of air that obliterated Mumby 1 and 2. As the others made their way up to Kirby's location, they all saw a sandwich floating there, waiting to be eaten. Adeleine stepped forward.

"I should get it; I'm the youngest one here."

She was quickly pulled back by King Dedede, who told her that growing kings of prominent lands should feast on such a sandwich, but Waddle Dee was making his way towards it himself, before being tackled by Kirby. Ribbon saw the commotion, pocketed the Crystal Shard and grabbed the sandwich herself. The second she was about toeat the sandwich, the others went on the offensive, but the tiny fairy shielded herself with an ability she learned on Ripple Star. The others were so busy fighting amongst each other that they didn't notice that the ground they were on was beginning to crumble.

Adeleine was quick to worry. "Anyone else notice that cracking noise?"

It was too late, the cement gave way and the gang fell onto a lower level with another pair of Mumby creatures eying them and the sandwich. Finally, Adeleine made a stupid mistake.

"Buzz off," she said to both of the Mumbies as she grabbed the sandwich and threw it at one of the enemies. Instead of it just hitting it, the Mumby's center opened and it consumed the sandwich. Content, it flew away, with its jealous and hungry counterpart following behind it.

Do I dare look behind me? Adeleine thought to herself. Finally, she thought it'd be best that she didn't turn around, so she jumped to the lower level, with the gang on her tail. Before Adeleine could even land on the next level, she was grabbed by her ear by Ribbon, who gave her a stern mother-like look.

"What are you gonna do?" Adeleine inquired. "Is Mama Ribbon gonna beat me because I threw away the sandwich?"

Just as Ribbon was going to bring her hand down on Adeleine's bottom, the Crystal Shard was reacting again. Kirby and Waddle Dee went to check it out.

The two were on the last level of the strange cement structure and were about to be punctured by a Ghost Knight when the floor suddenly gave way and the puffballs landed on a tiny platform above some dirt…which was holding a Crystal Shard. Waddle Dee grabbed the shard and the two whisked away before the Ghost Knights could even pull out their lances and strike.

All landed on solid earth again outside of the structure and began walking towards a large building in front of them. A Kacti bounced in front of them, but Kirby grabbed it and tossed it towards another Mumby that was floating their way. As the group walked towards the building, Kirby smelled cake. Not a lot of cake, but it was something that would keep him filled. Waddle noticed that Kirby had a strange grin on his face and asked why.

Kirby tried to cover his grin. "Um…just glad to be finding those shards pretty quickly, that's why!" The others went in, whilst Kirby jumped on top of the arch atop the entrance, gobbling down the piece of cake.

Kirby walked into the building, which wasn't exactly as lit as he expected it to be. It wasn't also connected, as he hoped it would be. Instead, platforms were aligned in their path, leading to the exit on the other side. Seemed simple enough to jump from platform to platform, as a certain plumber did in his past days, but this time there were some ghostly looking creatures that were throwing globs of fire down on the entourage.

"Are those Noo creatures?" Kirby asked Waddle Dee, who replied he wasn't sure. They all began jumping across the platforms, but the glint of a Crystal Shard fragment caught Kirby's eye, though the shard itself was floating right there near the darkness. He took one quick jump down, grabbed the shard, and tried desperately to float back to the top, but he could only get so far. "I'm not gonna make it!" Kirby wailed as he nearly grabbed one of the ledges, but found himself falling…falling…rising…ascending back to the ledge by Ribbon's hand.

"Now, you didn't think I'd let you fall, did you? After all, I did land on your head back on Pop Star." The two comrades continued along the platforms and headed into the next room.

It was a more open, expansive area than the previous, and had large polls of water that seemed to stretch for miles, but didn't in reality. There were no bridges to cross the water, just some floating blocks that could be used as stepping stones.

Adeleine walked over to the edge and looked into the water. "I can see my reflection at last!" After admiring her face for a few seconds, she stepped onto the first block, mindful of the Pteran bird that kept flying back and forth, possibly throwing off her balance. As Adeleine made her way across with Dedede following behind her, ready to push her into the water, a Flopper suddenly emerged from the depths of the water. Floppers were red and yellow fish that lurked below the waters and waited, but they did no real harm to anyone. Adeleine stared at the water for a second to see if more were coming.

"Come on, fishies, I want to get a good image so I can draw one of you."

Suddenly, Adeleine felt her body moving forward without her command, the water coming closer and closer into view until the painter found herself submerged in the drink. Dedede had since made it to the other side and was laughing his head off from Adeleine's misfortune. The painter had no time to retort, for some Floppers were soon interested in the girl's shoes and gave chase. Adeleine swam and swam and swam some more before finally reaching the ledge where Dedede was eager to kick her back into the water. She had other plans, as she quickly bit down on his leg.

King Dedede ran around and around with Adeleine chomping down hard on his foot, all while screaming "She's bitten me! The little brat bit me!"

Waddle Dee came and tried prying the girl off of Dedede, though it ended with all three of the clowns plunging into the water.

Kirby and Ribbon made their way across and helped the three out of the water, trying to calm them down in the process.

Adeleine was the first to protest. "Well, he shouldn't have pushed me in the first place!" Before she could protest more, she felt a sharp sting across her bottom through her skirt. Floating behind her was Ribbon.

"You need to stop being so immature at your age. I'm not your mother, but I will spank you like I was. I did grow up around predominantly women, after all."

This conversation was interrupted when everyone realized they were standing on a large marble colored block. It didn't seem problematic, but it did when the stone started ascending by itself to the top where it would be smashed against another rock, crushing anything else in its path; meaning the gang. Everyone quickly jumped off and landed safely on the ground, but Kirby saw that they were in front of a menacing Kapar: green ducks with green pointy crowns that would throw them. These creatures contained Cutter powers, but Kirby wasn't in the mood for dawdling. He picked up the Kapar and threw it into the unsuspecting Ghost Knight that was situated on one of the floating platforms above.

"Excuse me for a second, everyone," Kirby said, "but I'll be back in a jiffy."

To make sure he did, he rubbed the charged paper against his head once again and shot out of the large room like a lightning bolt. He returned just as quickly, explaining that he wanted to absorb a Rock creature for its power, just in case.

Dedede saw that there was another one of those large marble slabs in front of them, so everyone had to hurry up and rush across it before they were crushed. This continued until they reached the end of the path, where there was a Flopper flopping on the ground. Somehow, it had been taken out of the water.

Adeleine cautiously approached the fish. "So little fella, you wanna be back in the water? Well, here you GO!" With that, she kicked the fish far, but it did land safely in the water as if nothing had happened. The painter thought about laughing and jeering at the fish, but she got a stern look from Ribbon, who had her hand whipped back as if to strike again.

The problem was reaching the exit, at least it was problematic for Adeleine, Waddle Dee, and King Dedede. The exit was on a high ledge of stairs that were situated far up. Kirby and Ribbon simply floated to the other end, but this wasn't easy for everyone else who lacked wings or flight abilities.

Floating in front of them were three Pteran birds, perfect for the situation at hand. Waddle Dee went first, running at full speed and grabbing one of the pink birds, demanding that it take him to the top. The Pteran bird instead pecked at the red puffball until it fell into the water.

Adeleine had painted herself a jet pack that she was going to use, but she wasn't getting away that easily. She felt something holding her back.

"You gonna paint me one of those new fangled paint machines right now!"

Rather than protest and possibly incur the wrath of King Dedede, Adeleine whipped out her easel and painted another jet pack that immediately fell out of the easel and into Dedede's hands. They both strapped their packs on and rocketed towards the high staircase where the others were.

Meanwhile, Waddle Dee was contemplating on how he could reach the ledge, all while he was still sinking in the water. He never did notice he was standing on another large gray marble slab that started rising out of the water and towards another slab at the top.

"Waddle, move out of the way!" Kirby called to his ally. Waddle looked up and immediately jumped off, landing aside Kirby, who had found the exit to the large room. As they walked through, they found themselves outside, but upon looking over the edge, they were a lot higher than they were when they first entered the building.

"How'd we end up all the way up here?" Waddle Dee asked while scratching his head.

"You've been traveling throughout the castle, have you not?"

Everyone's attention was directed to the Ghost Knight standing in front of them, ready to attack.

"Have you come to battle Pix? Well, you will have to come past me first!" Kirby's body suddenly became solid rock as the Ghost Knight stabbed once and only once, ruining his lance. Kirby gave him a good mega punch that sent him off of the pathway and down the side of the castle, yelling all the way down. The puffball turned back to the others.

"Well, let's continue along."

They walked along, but were wary of a few things. Some cannons in the background were firing at them at will, along with some angry Pteran birds that suddenly swooped in to strike, then flew away, but everyone kept their heads together and walked on. Adeleine approached a pair of Galbos: tiny red and white dinosaurs that had a special ability that the painter was soon to find out.

"What a neat looking dinosaur!"

Kirby was well aware of the special ability that Galbos possessed. "Don't touch it!"

"This is one of the coolest things I've ever--" Adeleine didn't finish her sentence, for the Galbos opened their mouths and breathed piping hot fire on the young painter. The Galbos shrugged past the others and walked in the opposite direction. Adeleine was struggling to put out her ablaze body.

"Don't just stand there, put me out!"

Kirby had an idea. Floating above Adeleine was a Propeller creature. Propellers were blue balloon creatures floating by their propellers, which didn't seem like much, but they did possess ice powers. Kirby grabbed a Propellor and tossed it at Adeleine, extinguishing the flames and calming Adeleine. Ribbon came to Adeleine's side with a stern look on her face.

"Just one more time and--" Ribbon made a slapping noise with her hands, and that was more than enough to Adeleine to think that a fairy like Ribbon would be stern enough to actually administer a spanking to a naïve painter girl.

Kirby, Dedede, and Waddle cleared the path of Sparky, Ghost Knights, and other creatures and entered the next area. It seemed a bit more intricate than the others due to its enclosed space. In front of them was a thick brown wall that Kirby and Waddle tried smashing, but to no avail.

"It's too thick," Kirby said, at last, "I can't budge it."

Dedede took out his hammer and brushed Waddle and Kirby aside. "Stand aside, my turn." The King winded up and brought the hammer down, smashing the wall completely and revealing a chain that led to higher levels. Dedede summoned for Kirby to get on his back…half-heartedly.

Everyone followed Dedede as he smashed through some more walls and found a ladder he could climb. He was cautious, but Ribbon told him to go ahead and climb, for the Crystal Shard was reacting to something up ahead.

Kirby jumped off of Dedede and floated to see if it was safe, which it wasn't, as there was a Galbo waiting to burn anything that came in its line of sight. Kirby kicked the Galbo into the wall and called out that the path was clear. Dedede made his way across some gaps and found another wall, which he smashed completely. Behind that wall was another Crystal Shard fragment that Ribbon added to the growing one.

Kirby pointed out the weak walls that Dedede obliterated in seconds and the gang continued climbing chains until they reached the top level. There was an exit in front of them, but they were unsure of where it led to. Kirby cautiously approached the edge of the exit and saw there was only a dark pathway in front of them, but there was light at the end of the tunnel, so everyone plucked up courage and walked through until they found they were…back in the desert, but there were no pyramids, no cacti, no enemies, just a long stretch of road with a suspicious black hole in the center of it all.

Endless grains of sand were leaking down this hole that led into what appeared to be an underground cave. Adeleine was hesitant to jump, but the Crystal Shard reacted wildly to whatever was down there.

"Come on," Ribbon said, "let's get down there and find those crystals!"

No one jumped into the hole all at once, but there was a way to figure out who would go in first. Dedede made sure of that.

"If your name is Adeleine and you act like a brat, jump in."

The painter may have been young, but she was not all that ditzy as she had been made out to be. "I'm insulted you'd say such things about me, why I may have a few--" Adeleine continued rambling until her back was turned and she was facing the hole. Waddle Dee whispered to Dedede.

"Send her for a ride."

Dedede gave one shove and Adeleine found she was once again falling, but this wasn't water she was heading towards. She rushed to paint another parachute so she could land with ease. Dedede once again forgot about that, so he and Waddle jumped after the painter.

Kirby looked to Ribbon and smiled. "That wasn't unexpected." "You got that right," Ribbon responded as she took Kirby's hand. "Shall we?" "Yes, let's!"

_ The last two jumped down into the hole as the search for Crystal Shards on Rock Star continued._


	9. Beneath the Sand

**Phazon**: At this point in the story, veterans of The Crystal Shards should be familiar with what should be coming up in the next chapters, but here's a recap for those who don't. The gang's found some of the shards on Rock Star and are about to trek an underground cave for the rest of the fabled shards. By the time you know it, the gang will have gathered them all and be on their way to the next planet, but let's enjoy the story until then! Still experiencing some problems with the document manager, but hey, that's all part of isn't it?

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**Beneath the Sand**

Adeleine, Waddle Dee, King Dedede, Kirby, and Ribbon all landed on the sand, which was not normally yellow, but gave off a purplish hue due to the darkness in the cave. All around them were giant misplaced buildings blocks that children may have played with, and among those, skeletal creatures and bones were littered throughout.

Kirby stood to his feet with Ribbon at his side as they took a long look at the underground cave. It was quiet, though the sound of water lapping could be heard, but far away.

"Come on, then, let's get some more Crystal Shards."

They commenced, walking forward on the sand, which evidently started seeping into their footwear, except for Adeleine, who had packed up her normal shoes and donned a pair of sandals she painted. Dedede looked at her feet and laughed.

"You know that they're gonna dissolve once we reach the waters."

The bright smile soon faded from the painter's face, but she refused to let it spoil anything. She would simply enjoy the relaxation her feet had for now and worry about the problems later.

Up ahead were some stationary skulls, appearing to be stuck in place. Kirby cautiously poked one, and immediately, the four of them rose and took flight. These creatures, Boneheads, were skulls that remained dormant, then took flight and tried landing on top of anyone who happened to be traversing underneath them.

Three were now hovering atop Kirby, who was simply waiting for them to come crashing down. When they did, and Kirby, still possessing the single stone power, turned into Stone Kirby as his entire body now became solid rock. The Boneheads cracked upon impact, while the fourth one scurried away.

A sandy hill was slowly being formed, but it was due to an open crack in the earth that allowed more sand to seep in. Situated at the top of the hill was a Galbo, but it was quickly disposed of by Waddle Dee. Continuing along the path, which began to become more and more solid, a Mite suddenly emerged from the ground, earning a punch from Kirby's rock hard fist that sent it backwards into the ablaze Bobo.

Above were some blocks that Boneheads were situated on, but Waddle Dee jumped up, crash landed on one, and tossed the other a far distance off. Further ahead were some Bo's: black balls with eyes that simply floated in the air, knocking into someone if they got close enough. Everyone made their way around them and came face to face with a huge skeleton of what appeared to be a dinosaur. The bones were so hard, it was as if the creature had been abandoned underground for years, maybe even longer.

In the mouth, which was visible due to the skeletal features, was a glowing Crystal Shard, though no one was able to fit through any of the spaces. They'd have to find another way around, so they climbed atop the head of the dinosaur and started descending its back. Kirby thought he could pick up speed if he became a rock and rolled down the back quicker, but as he sped up, he was interrupted when he fell through a particular brown colored bone that was weaker than the others.

Kirby then saw that he had a clear path to the Crystal Shard, but blocking his path was a Gabon: little blue guys with skull helmets. They would throw bones at first, but when they realized they couldn't win, they'd throw their helmets and hightail it out of there. Kirby didn't give this one enough time to do either. The puffball grabbed the Crystal Shard and emerged from the mouth of the skeleton, disposing of the single Rock power in the process.

"There's some quicksand over there, but it doesn't look like we'd die if we fell through," Waddle Dee pointed out as he looked to the far end of the cave.

Everyone kept moving along, though Kirby, feeling the need to speed things up, picked up a Golbo and ran back to where he saw a Bobo creature. He combined the two fire powers and once had the double fireball combo. He shot himself over to where the others were taking care of some pesky Bo's and Boneheads.

"Bah," Adeleine said as she swatted a Bonehead away with her easel, "they just keep popping up like flies."

"No worries," Ribbon said, pointing to the sand funnel at the end of the cave. Adeleine approached it and placed her hand in the sand.

"It…looks like it'll suck us in and won't spit us back out."

"So the girl who can paint it all is a coward?" Dedede mocked. He wasn't in the mood to argue, so he just pushed the girl into the quicksand, with him and Waddle following behind, with Kirby and Ribbon not too far behind.

They didn't die. As opposed to sinking forever, the entourage landed on top of a small sandy hill that resembled an anthill. To their left and right were sand whirlpools, either one possibly being deadly, but there was one problem.

"Where's Adeleine?" Waddle Dee asked, scouting everywhere but up.

Adeleine was standing atop some of the large blocks and jumped off to surprise the gang, but instead landed flat on top of Ribbon.

"You should've gotten out of my way!" The immature painter scoffed, but Ribbon was fuming.

"That's it, girly! Paint me a belt right now!"

"But--"

"Do it!"

Kirby eased Ribbon and Waddle Dee in the direction of the left whirlpool. "Um…how about the three of us take this whirlpool, and you two take the other one?"

Adeleine was silently thanking the stars that she wouldn't have to take a licking from Ribbon, though she wasn't exactly happy to be stuck with Dedede alone for sometime. They jumped down the right whirlpool, while the others jumped down the left. Ribbon was still cross.

"That girl needs a good spanking, and before this is over, she'll get one."

Waddle Dee laughed. "From you?" But his laughter died when he got a menacing glare from Ribbon.

The three landed atop some blocks in a separate chamber. It had to be a trap, for the exits suddenly filled with sand that blocked their paths. Kirby looked down and saw a giant Fishbone creature firing wildly into the dark, hoping to get a first strike on Kirby. Fishbones were fishes made of three triangles that each decreased in size, but were able to fire their heads at an enemy all while regenerating their lost heads in the process.

"Waddle," Kirby said, "I'll get the big guy, and you get the little guys. Ribbon, stay up here so they don't try to steal the shard."

They all agreed and went to work. Kirby jumped down and became a blazing fireball, charging into the giant Fishbone.

The stunned, giant creature fired its head at Kirby, who dodged and launched forward again.

Waddle Dee grabbed the head of one Fishbone and threw it at the other, causing it to explode upon impact.

It took no time at all for Kirby to do away with the giant Fishbone, and apparently, better that the three of them took the left route. The Fishbone being defeated was the key to reopening the entrances to the separate tomb. The three jumped down and landed in a larger room, but their exit gave them access to another Crystal Shard fragment. Ribbon was quick to retrieve it.

To their right were bored Adeleine and King Dedede, who landed there from the start and were waiting for the others to arrive. Adeleine yelled over to them.

"Did you guys have any luck?"

Adeleine, however, did _not _press her luck by asking any more questions, seeing the stare that Ribbon was giving her.

"Look," Kirby said, looking and pointing ahead, "there are some more sand whirlpools that'll probably get us out of here…or take us deeper into this cave. We'll hopefully meet up at the exit."

Two on one side, three on the other, the gang charged down their separate pathways, knocking along Sandman creatures as they ran. They jumped into their separate sand whirlpools and wound up in the same room together again. All landed atop some more sandy hills and began running along until they reached one of a series of pits that could be traversed by the floating platforms that were situated above quicksand.

On the other hand, Adeleine figured that these sand whirlpools were just like regular ones, and just as she was about to dive headfirst in, when a Snipper emerged from the sand. With its large jaws, it was about to crush Adeleine until the painter was saved…once again by the mother figure Ribbon.

The painter was flustered. "Please, don't do it, not in front of the guys."

Ribbon didn't respond, just grabbed a nearby Chilly: snowman creatures that…gave off ice elemental powers, just as it was about to attack. The fairy turned it in the direction of Adeleine, who was immediately frozen by the snowman's attack. Ribbon patted the Snowman on the head and Kirby grabbed the frigid painter girl.

Everyone made their way over some more hurdles and pits, avoiding the sandy traps along the way, with the exceptional pool of water that housed some Flopper fish and Glunks underneath the surface. Glunks were yellowish anemone with red tentacles that would spit strange balls at attackers, but since they were in water, they posed no serious threat.

The last hurdle came and the gang was wary of the Snippers that were hiding under the surface. Kirby blew through the last Gabon with his fireball attack and everyone arrived at the end of this level of the cave. It was a pool of water that seemed to hold entrance to an even lower level of the cave. The four jumped down, surprised at how quickly they were making progress, which was slightly due to the fact that the painter was frozen solid…for the moment.

Kirby landed in the tide pool first, followed by Waddle, Dedede, and Ribbon. There were some more pits of sand, but there were no platforms to traverse across. Ribbon was able to fly across, though Kirby had some difficulty, him carrying the frozen painter.

"Ribbon, can't you just beat her like a normal mother would do instead of _freezing her _and making me carry her?"

Ribbon put her hands on her hips. "When she thaws, I'll see."

"We're wasting time," Dedede said as he threw Waddle Dee across the gap. He, however, had a bit more difficulty, as he did not have the…physique to launch himself across the gap. Instead, he walked towards the center and waited for the Snipper to rise.

"What are you doing, Dedede!" Waddle exclaimed.

Dedede smiled and assured them all was fine. "Something I should've done a long time ago!" As the Snipper emerged, Dedede repeatedly brought his hammer down on the creature, hoping it would have enough lumps to succumb to its sandy pit.

"Take that, ya lousy, flippin' scorpion thingy!"

It took a second for Dedede's mind to register that his hammer strikes were doing barely any damage to the Snipper, so he simply hightailed it and rain, but not without getting his foot pinched in the process by the Snipper.

Ribbon felt something tapping at her while she waited for Dedede to trudge all the way up the sand whirlpool, but she turned around and saw it was a Mariel spider that was eying her shard. The girl from Ripple Star shrieked, but not in horror.

"Get away, GET AWAY FROM THE CRYSTAL SHARD YOU FIEND!"

She didn't realize until too late that she had kicked the Mariel spider into the next pit, where it was devoured by a Snipper that was soon satisfied that it had been filled.

Slowly, but surely, everyone had traversed over the last two pits and they arrived at a body of water.

"Well, this looks inviting," Waddle said sarcastically, "we don't actually have to go _down _there, do we?"

"It may be the only chance we have of finding an exit," Kirby responded. "Otherwise, we may be stuck down here forever and turn to skull and bones like all those other creatures."

"So let's get down there and mosey on outta this cave!"

Yes, Adeleine had defrosted in time to see the underwater passage. The painter took a few steps back before running at full speed towards the drink.

Adeleine yelled out as she dove. "Look out above!"

As she landed in the water, Waddle Dee yelled after her. "It's look out BELOW! BELOW! Oh, I'm gonna teach her something about words!"

Wouldn't you know it? Waddle dove after Adeleine, with the others following behind. As they headed toward the tunnel, it revealed a sort of narrow cavern where the pressure would push people down. The entourage began descending down, dodging the various shots coming from the Fishbones lined across the walls.

Ribbon found she was descending a bit slower than the others. Not too slow, but she wasn't keeping good enough pace with them. Adeleine saw this and tried to help. Her speech was made a bit clearer by whatever came through the bubbles.

"Hey, Ribbon, I know how you can sink faster." Adeleine didn't try swimming upward, just pushed as hard as she could. Ribbon didn't understand at first, but saw the advantage when a huge bubble emanated from Adeleine's backside and the painter began to descend faster.

"Ha-ha, I did it!"

It was then that Ribbon recognized that same grimace on Adeleine's face – when Ribbon awoke on Pop Star, she had that same…problem in the morning, but she wouldn't let that get to her again. Instead, she, with time, fell to the level of the gang, and they found another exit shaft, but it lead into yet another room.

The current was still against them, but the Crystal Shard reacted to whatever was _above _them, so they'd have to fight through the current.

As Kirby ascended past the various Fishbone shots, he looked above and saw some giant skeletal bones falling towards him. It narrowly missed him, but it didn't end there. There were various giant bones falling with the current, so the gang had to be careful to avoid getting walloped with someone else's remains and bones.

Upon reaching the level where the exit was, Kirby was quick to swim up to the Crystal Shard fragment and return to the safe area before being crushed by another giant bone. The exit shaft, strangely shaped like a dragon's mouth, was their exit out.

"Come on, now, let's get out of this cave!" Kirby called as he led them through.

They swam and swam and swam some more, wondering when they'd reach the surface. Their prayers were answered when they entered a clearing. It was an underwater pool that was situated right where they wanted to be…smack dab in the middle of the desert.

Adeleine jumped out of the water and her attention was soon focused on the giant black and purple pyramid that was some distance away.

As the others emerged from the watery depths, they too saw the pyramid a ways off. The Crystal Shard began reacting wilder than ever.

"The rest of this planet's shards must be on that pyramid."

Suddenly, the pyramid began to move, and it was soon arising out of the sand and levitating in air.

"You mean that floating pyramid!" Kirby said to his comrades as he began running towards the pyramid. "Come on, gang, it's high time we got the rest of the shards and got off this planet!"

And off they went.

_ Not many shards remain on Rock Star. Things are looking up for Kirby and the gang. Next chapter, the mysterious pyramid and Kirby's decision._


	10. Pix

**Phazon:** Well, readers, this may or may not be the last chapter in the Crystal Shards saga. In response to **that one little guy's** review, yes, that may or may not be a factor in the lack of feedback, but I've come to this conclusion. I have focused mainly too much on wanting to receive reviews for the fan fiction and less on my work, and while I'd love to have an abundant number of reviews, such as on your piece of work, I can't let that get me down. In essence, my idea is to continue along with Kirby 64: Out of Darkness Comes Light, going for the full novelization of the N64 classic in spite of how many reviews I get. My ambition from chapter 1 was to recreate the game and put it in novel form for fans and readers to enjoy, and not once did I consider what feedback I'd receive. I barely received any for chapter 1, but I did not let that hinder me, and I will not let that hinder me now. The story shall continue in full detail, and whether or not I get the type of feedback I'd like, I'm supposed to be worrying about how my work is, not who likes it and who doesn't. That defeats the entire purpose if I'm so wrapped up in reviewers and less on my work. Anyway, let's get back to the story. Kirby and the gang notices something rising out of the sand on Rock Star that resembles a pyramid. We're nearing the end of another planet, and the entourage will soon be heading to the next planet.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

--------------------------------------

**Pix**

Everyone felt the violent vibrations, the sand rippling throughout as the strange pyramidal structure that was coated in a metallic purple emerged from beneath the sand. The lowest portion began to break apart until an entrance appeared in the form of an elevator. Adeleine jumped in excitement.

"Well, what are we waiting for! Let's GO!"

And the painter was off, running at full speed before turning full circle and realizing that the others hadn't bothered to move at all.

"What's the deal! How come you guys aren't moving!"

Kirby wiped some sweat from his face. "That type of pyramid could house a lot of dangers inside, despite the innocent exterior appearance. It's too risky for all of us to go in."

Before anyone could nominate themselves or someone else, Kirby walked to the head of the group. With fire in his eyes and no tremor in his voice, he addressed his friends.

"I'm tackling this one by myself," the puffball said as he raised his hand to stop any opposing arguments, "should anything go wrong, I can wiggle my way out of any situation, and if there _are_ crystal shard fragments in there, I'll get them safe and sound and get them back to Ribbon in time. More than that, a structure of that magnitude didn't just conjure itself up; someone or some_thing_ created it and must be at the very top, so I'm going to find it and take it out. You all just keep looking for some safe haven or something until I catch up to you.

As Ribbon was about to protest, Kirby gave his last few words to the group. "Trust me," he said as he ran off towards the bridge that would lead him towards the pyramid.

Waddle Dee looked on as the pink puffball continued running. "You've gotta admire that determination."

They all agreed as they grabbed their belongings and began walking…_not_ towards the pyramid. The savior of Pop Star was on his own.

--------------------------------------------------

Kirby had taken the opportunity to absorb a Skud enemy: walking red and white rockets that had the Bomb ability within them. Kirby figured that if something were to go wrong within the base, such as an automatic self destruction, he'd have to blast his way out.

He jumped across the long and winding bridge, which was strangely coated with glowing black and purple paint. Ignoring the abnormality, Kirby rushed towards the elevator that would lead him into the pyramid, using an Nruff pig to pick up his speed. As Kirby stepped onto the platform, it suddenly began to rise. Looking up, all Kirby saw was darkness, not a single increment of light. He now wished he'd been back out in the hot desert where there was some form of illumination.

Afar, Ribbon heard an earth shattering thud as she looked back and saw that the pyramid was sealed. She now knew that there was no turning back-- Kirby wanted to finish this task alone.

And alone the puffball was. As the elevator ascended, Kirby happened to hear the faintest sound of cheap elevator music as he continued his ascension. He got a chance to practice some fake dance skills when Shotzo cannons were firing shots at him, but he was able to avoid them nonetheless, but couldn't damage them.

The ride seemed interminable, but Kirby found himself at the next level as the elevator came to a halt. This next room was a bit brighter, filled with moving pink and yellow platforms, constantly shifting and changing direction with each passing second. There was nowhere to go but up.

"Well, as they say," Kirby said to himself, not even having time to complete his statement as he briskly jumped on top of one platform and to the next one a split second before being crushed against the wall. Continuing up with ease, Kirby found an exit shaft, but got a strange feeling and looked underneath the floating platform he was standing on.

In the center of the room was a strange fixture that seemed unimportant, but when Kirby saw the rotating platforms move away and show a clearing, there in front of him was a Crystal Shard fragment. He quickly dropped down and floated back up to the platform before he was crushed.

"Phew, I almost got crushed in this room," he muttered as he looked to his left and right. On both sides of him were Spark-i creatures: blue triangle creatures with one eye encased. They gave off electrical powers, which Kirby figured would go good with his bomb ability. He took the black elemental crystal out of his mouth and tossed it at one of the Spark-i creatures, making a new concoction. He hopped up to the next level.

---------------------------------------------

Waddle Dee and King Dedede continued walking along the sand when they stopped and looked back. Ribbon was surveying the surrounding, but the other two hadn't figured the problem yet.

"What?" Waddle asked.

"Where's Adeleine?" Ribbon asked with a stern look on her face.

---------------------------------------------

"Man, oh man, Ribbon's gonna spank me for this one," Adeleine muttered to herself. The painter, through various explosive devices she had painted, had made it into the pyramid undetected by her supposed guardians.

Adeleine found herself in a dark room with three strange things that appeared to be easels. Adeleine smiled with joy as she took out her paintbrushes and supplies.

"Guess I'll be getting to work."

At the same time, however, Kirby was making his way through the various rooms and arrived in the exact same room as the painter, who stood still as she heard Kirby grunt while he tried hoisting himself up. Adeleine sweated nervously and hoped that Kirby wouldn't see her or her work. She had so many ideas for things to paint, but she'd only been able to paint a sun, a tree, and a fish, with quick painting skills that easily rivaled those of a first grader.

Kirby saw that the room was pitch black, but he wasn't so dense that he couldn't make out the red artist cap and green shirt that belonged to a certain someone. He sighed in amusement as well as disappointment.

"Adeleine, wouldn't Ribbon have told you to stay by her side at all times?"

The painter didn't move, hoping that Kirby would simply leave her in peace. The pink puffball felt insulted at being ignored.

"Did you hear me, Adeleine? I'm talking to you! What did I just--"

Kirby took no more chances and charged forward with his attack, which actually turned out to be a brilliant light bulb. He took a look at the strange figures that Adeleine and promised not to rat her out. The artist gathered her supplies and drew herself a drill that would hopefully get her out of the pyramid.

In the next room, Kirby saw a series of switches with drawings on them, but the exit itself was locked. He looked around and saw switches with drawings of a fish, a tree, and a sun, all of which were done by Adeleine. As he stepped carefully on the respective three, the entrance opened and a Crystal Shard fragment suddenly materialized. Kirby grabbed it and stashed it along with the other one, but also withdrew his crystalline ability and tossed it towards the ceiling, shattering it. He climbed the ladder to the next room…

…which was a lot bigger and wider than any of the previous. Kirby had to scratch his head in confusion.

"Who in their right mind built this thing anyway?"

He surveyed his surroundings: there was no ground to fall onto, just the floating multicolored blocks that had to be used as stepping stones and some translucent pink platforms that transported one from point A to point B. Taking the easy way out, Kirby looked up and saw that the exit shaft was a bit far from his reach, but he just needed good timing. He jumped on one pink platform, sucked in his breath, and began to float up…up…higher and higher towards the elevator that would take him to the exit shaft.

"Guess I must be near the end," he concluded as the elevator took him up to a completely deserted room. As he began to climb the ladder to exit, the exit shaft closed and a giant Spark-I appeared and began firing multicolored balls.

Kirby ducked as the first shot narrowly missed him and obliterated some of the walling. He took the opportunity to absorb at least _one_ Spark-I creature to give him an electrical advantage. Kirby repeatedly jumped into the air and fired; an electrical barrier shielding his body as the current surged throughout the giant Spark-I, which unfortunately couldn't move. It soon exploded under the buckling pressure, but not without leaving another shard fragment.

Kirby smiled as he grabbed the fragment and climbed the ladder to the next level. It _had_ to be the final level, for there was a clearing of blue sky seen from the exit shaft way up at the top. To Kirby's left and right were some yellow ropes that seemed dangerous, but gave off no electricity. He started shimmying up the rope when something strange happened. Beneath him on the rope, a beast formed. Bivolts were sparks with faces that would simply follow whoever was climbing their ropes, but Kirby was able to evade them all as he jumped into the exit shaft and into the clearing.

-----------------------------------------

Kirby was now situated upon a circular platform. It was a round structure that was circling a base like structure in the center. Without warning, it began to move, ascending without any type of instruction from anyone.

As Kirby walked around and around the ascending platform, he saw a red diamond materialize out of nowhere. It did not speak or give the pink puffball any warning, but soon began warping and changing until the red diamond now had a huge, protruding spike coming out of it, almost like a lance. For whatever reason, the diamond only shifted left and right, meaning all Kirby had to do was duck and he easily evaded this enemy. The trouble was not over, though.

Next up was the green diamond, which followed up and warped into a diamond with a spike protruding out of it. As opposed to simply shimmying left to right, the two diamonds began spinning vertically as Kirby ran on the top of his heels, trying to avoid getting attacked, but he couldn't avoid a come from behind smack on the top of the head from the red diamond. Kirby found himself thrown to the side, but was able to lift himself onto the continually ascending platform.

Finally, a blue diamond appeared, following the same pattern as its predecessors. This time, the three diamonds simply bobbed up and down in a motion, left and right, the direction sometimes throwing Kirby off, but he was able to duck and doge every attack. He was confident that this battle would be over soon, but the platform soon stopped ascending. Kirby looked over the edge of the platform and found that he was _far up, very far up_, higher than he assumed the pyramid would take him. The three diamonds soon came together in the center and began speaking in a robotic type of voice.

"_We are Pix, we are one,"_ the diamonds said in a strange, demented voice to the star warrior, who held his ground.

"So it was you who built this pyramid?" Kirby asked.

"_You are correct, star warrior," the diamonds responded. "We plan to use the Crystal Shards' power to harness the power of the pyramid so it shall become a powerful stronghold that will send even more enemies to the doomed planet that you call Ripple Star. All we need now are the fragments that you possess."_

Kirby smirked with a battle look on his face as he prepared to fight. "Come and get them!"

The diamonds came together in triangle formation and began circling the platform rapidly, with their long, protruding spikes extended. Kirby ran as quickly as he could, but it was no good. He found himself getting smacked and smacked over again until he could take no more. The star warrior's body was soon charged with electricity as he flew to the diamonds' level and attacked. The energy radiating from the electrical shield shocked the diamonds, who came back to the center structure.

"Got any more fight left in you?" Kirby challenged.

The diamonds separated and began firing energy balls corresponding with their color. As they did, small molecular figures materialized instantly on the platforms. Sure, Kirby wasn't a scientist, but he could put two and two together and realize that a molecule thrown at its corresponding color would have to do some major damage, so he went for it.

Kirby ran and grabbed one green molecule, then jumped with great agility and height to the other side of the platform, grabbing another molecule of green color. Kirby took proper aim, closed one eye, and tossed the two molecules at the green diamond, _shattering it_ completely as it was now a hollow frame of its former self. Kirby quickly whisked and grabbed two blue molecules and made waste of the blue diamond, so the red diamond now retreated to the center with its destroyed allies.

"_The star warrior is more powerful than we expected."_

It tried again with the triangle formation, but because it was by itself, Kirby was able to see through its attack pattern and easily dodged the protruding spike.

"_The molecules shall appear no more, star warrior! What will your method of attack be?"_

Kirby rushed in, jumped and tried kicking the red diamond on its side, but was bounced off as the diamond was too thick to be penetrated by physical force. Even King Dedede's hammer couldn't break through that tough exterior, so Kirby stealthily took out the yellow elemental crystal and hit it as the red crystal approached, preparing for a final desperation shot.

"_Farewell, star warrior!"_

It fired a powerful red beam that was being retracted when an electrical elemental crystal was penetrating through it. The laser began backing up, further and further until it blasted through the red crystal, shattering it as it was now amongst its allies.

With no more defenses, the three destroyed crystals spun and spun and spun rapidly until they exploded, a Crystal Shard piece amongst the wrecked. Kirby grabbed it and put it along with the other three he had found. Suddenly, there was a violent vibration. A sequence had somehow been initiated.

"_Warning: Pix battle structure and pyramid base will self destruct in T-minus five, four, three…"_

Kirby looked around for an exit, and he was certain that a fall from that far of a height would kill him upon impact. He simply grabbed the Crystal Shard fragment and closed his eyes.

"_Launching explosion sequence…"_

-----------------------------------------

"Hey, guys, I'm an Egyptian!"

Waddle Dee and King Dedede did _not_ want to look back at another one of Adeleine's charades, so they kept on walking. Ribbon was pleased that the painter made it back, but _furious_ when she heard where she had been. She kept a better grip on the girl, but thankfully, for Adeleine's sake, she did not spank her in front of Dedede and Waddle in the middle of the desert, but the painter would soon get her just desserts.

Waddle Dee stopped in his tracks as he heard the faint boom of an explosion. "Guys, the pyramid's coming down! I can't see it all, but it looks like it's falling into the sand!"

The shrill wail of a certain pink puffball was heard as Kirby was falling fast towards the sand, protected by a barrier created by the energy of the shards. He landed on the sand alive, but lifted his head to see…Ribbon with a strawberry head and Waddle in the shape of a delicious, but edible chicken?

The star warrior fainted on the spot.

"He's exhausted," Ribbon concluded as she flew to her friend, "what should we do?"

It took some heavy thinking, but Adeleine came up with an idea.

_Five minutes later, Kirby was up and well._

"I AM THE STRONGEST!" Kirby boasted as he shoved a piece of cake down his mouth, celebrating his victory over Pix.

Dedede was munching on a ham, and Waddle a sandwich, while Adeleine was eating away at a sandwich as well, but also working on a painting of an apple. Without warning, the apple fell from the easel and onto the sand as Ribbon watched it roll, a smile of joy on her face. Her attention was diverted to the glowing Crystal Shard, which was once again floating and glowing with that strange aura around it. It flashed vibrantly and revealed the next planet: Aqua Star.

"Good," Adeleine said as she gathered her things, "I could use some time at the beach away from all this sun."

"It's settled," Waddle Dee said as he jumped in after Ribbon, followed by Adeleine and Waddle Dee.

Kirby, on the other hand was munching on another piece of cake, but didn't have time to finish it before Dedede grabbed the chubby pink star warrior and dragged him into the portal as the Crystal Shard shot out of the hot, arid desert that was Rock Star and towards the cool, crystal waters that was Aqua Star. The search for Crystal Shards was continuing, but without the heat.

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_Author's Note: Sorry about the length of this chapter, but I got out of hand with this. Anyway, the story will continue regardless of how many reviews I get. I just want to make this the best Kirby 64 adaptation I can make it, and nothing will hold me back from doing so. Enjoy, read, you don't have to review if you don't want to, though I'd appreciate it, and the next chapter will be up soon! Happy reading!_


	11. Blue Skies and White Sands

**Phazon:** Okay, long story short, Kirby triumphed over Pix and the gang proceeded to Aqua Star. Their story picks up here, and I tell you here now, this Kirby 64 story will be fleshed out from top to bottom, regardless of how long it takes…or how many times I have to look over the game to remind myself of what was there. Either way, enjoy.

And by the way, a question for the readers: This whole thing with Ribbon acting like the mother figure to the brat Adeleine, I wanted to know if readers think I should keep this whole mini-arc thing here. As far as the whole spanking thing goes, _no_, I'm not some freak who has desires for that, nor am I some commandeering person who likes to abuse people. For those who do such things, I don't approve of it, in some senses. Anyway, it's all played for comical purposes, though I don't know _when_ I'll actually have Ribbon do something to Adeleine, who, in this fic, is just a little brat. Back to the point, if you think I should do away with the whole thing altogether, let me know, though I _do_ plan for something to happen a few times even before the gang reaches the end of their journey. Just let me know, because I want to make it as humorous as possible.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

---------------------------------------

**Blue Skies and White Sands**

Adeleine knew something was wrong when she realized she had sand in her shoes and the waves were quietly lapping at her legs, but she was aware of one thing and one thing only: she wasn't on Rock Star.

"Well," she muttered to herself as she gathered her art supplies, "looks like we made it."

"And it's a nice time to cool down from all that heat, too."

Adeleine was surprised to see Ribbon floating behind her, a smile on her face and all. The painter cowered in fear, moving away from the fairy.

"Don't do it! I haven't done anything wrong…yet."

Ribbon placed her hands on her hips. "Adeleine, I've no intention of spanking you just yet, but due to your behavior on Rock Star, something is coming. You can count on that."

From a distance, Kirby, Waddle Dee, and Dedede were waiting for them while sitting in some sand chairs they had formed. Dedede sighed.

"How long until Ribbon actually makes _good_ with her threat?"

Kirby shrugged what would be his shoulders and looked at the flying seagulls overhead. "Whenever she does, we'll always be the first to know. I don't wanna sound cheap, but it feels good to finally have beaten the heat."

Eventually, they were ready when Ribbon was dragging Adeleine by the ear, all prepared to leave.

"_Okay_," Ribbon said, giving a tug to the painter's ear, "let's get those shards."

The gang began walking the long sandy path until their feet left the sand and reached palm avenues. Though they were high up, they were surprised to see that there were fences lined in what appeared to be a deserted locale.

Up ahead was a Pompey, which was spewing rocks every which way, though it stopped with a quick flattening administered by Dedede's hammer.

Further down the lane was another sputtering and flopping Flopper fish, which got Adeleine's attention. She _would_ have kicked the fish, but she remembered what happened when she tried a previous stunt on Rock Star, or what _would_ have happened if she had continued with her stint.

They saw some holes in the distance, four to be exact, but nothing appeared to be in them. Waddle Dee cautiously approached one of the holes and was about to pass over it, when _Whoosh!_ A Flopper came flying out of the hole and nearly swallowed Waddle whole, his body now covered with water from the splash made when it landed.

Kirby rushed to Waddle's side and patted him on the back. "Lucky you didn't get caught, but now you know."

It took no time at all for everyone to get across the traps, though Adeleine could've done without kicking one of the Floppers just for fun. Kirby absorbed the Bobo that was running back and forth and felt the need to combine it with a Kapar creature that was unsuccessful with throwing its crown. From this new mixture came the flaming sword, making another appearance since Ribbon first saw it on Pop Star.

Kirby charged forward, swinging the flaming sword through numerous foes and enemies. Soon enough, the sandy path came to an end and everyone came to a standstill. Ahead of them appeared to be an entrance to a cave, but they'd have to traverse a very skinny bridge with tiny islands throughout with Glunks inhabiting them. Kirby and Ribbon took the high route and flew over, though Ribbon had a bit more trouble, seeing as she wasn't planning to let go of Adeleine's ear. Waddle Dee and King Dedede were able to blaze through the barrage of Floppers and Glunks that got in their way. Soon, all five ventured into the mysterious cave.

Adeleine, who, for the moment, had been freed from Ribbon's grip, stared at the strange drawings of blue stars, rocks, and other things plastered onto the cavern walls.

"Well, I'd say that someone here obviously liked using their crayons."

Of course, Adeleine, being the painter, got stares from everyone else, who glared at her with suspicion in their eyes. She felt the need to defend herself.

"I didn't do this! I may be kind of bad…"

"Ahem," Ribbon interrupted, "_kind of bad_ is an understatement. Now," Ribbon continued, glancing at the cave's structure, examining and looking for a way out, "the exit is probably up there, but what's with these strange green thingies?"

Ahead, up where a Kany was furiously pinching, above it was a mysterious green ball like thing, which appeared to have a gelatinous structure to it as it floated in midair.

Warily, but curious, the pink puffball looked to the Kany crab and asked for his attention.

"You there," he began, "what's with the green thingies?"

The Kany stopped pinching and looked towards the star warrior. "'Tis a launcher, my friend. Jump in and you'll receive a nasty surprise."

Before Kirby could respond, the Kany waddled around and shoved the puffball into the green ball, where he was suspended.

"Kirby!" Ribbon exclaimed. "Can you breathe in there?"

But Kirby didn't answer; he was soon launched from the green ball higher and higher and higher into the air where he landed on another platform. After regaining his composure, he looked over the ledge where the others were.

"They're safe," he called from above, "and they're not dangerous!"

Not taking any chances, Ribbon just flew to Kirby's level, but was _happy_ enough to let her friends try the mysterious blob thing.

Adeleine looked to Waddle Dee, who looked to King Dedede.

"Rock, paper, scissors for who goes first," Dedede suggested.

"Deal."

"Got it."

And the short game began. One…two…three!

"Paper covers rock!" Adeleine shouted.

"Rock smashes scissors!" Dedede added.

"Scissors cuts paper!" Waddle intervened.

"Paper covers rock!" Adeleine shouted…again.

"Rock smashes scissors!" Dedede added…again.

"Scissors cuts paper!" Waddle intervened…again.

"WAIT!" Dedede finally said. "Adeleine goes first because…well, it's ladies first."

Adeleine was outraged and began to stomp her feet. "I won't do it and you can't make me, so nyah!"

Waddle smirked. "We'll see about that." He then looked to the platform where the others were. "Oh, RIBBON!" Fear was now in Adeleine's eyes. "Adeleine's not behaving properly!"

Ribbon's wings began to flap rapidly as she floated in the air. "Oh? Do I need to come down there and administer some--"

"I'm goin, I'm goin!" Adeleine interrupted, not wanting to incur any _more_ wrath from what was now her mother on this voyage. The painter jumped into the green ball and was instantly catapulted onto the higher level alongside Kirby and Ribbon. Waddle Dee and Dedede soon followed suit. They followed up by hopping into the next green blob that launched them even higher.

Just as Kirby was about to jump into the next green catapult blob, Ribbon pulled him back and showed him the Crystal Shard, which was beginning to glow.

"Guess we better do some exploring around here first?"

"Pfft," Adeleine scoffed, "what you _ought_ to do is look up?"

In an instant, Ribbon whipped around and slapped Adeleine on her cheek, throwing the painter off guard.

"What was _that_ for?"

"For being a smart aleck!" Ribbon harshly replied.

Kirby tapped the fairy on her shoulder and whispered. "Um, Ribbon…there's a shard above us."

It was then that everyone except Adeleine looked up and saw that there was, indeed, a Crystal Shard fragment floating above them, just ripe for the picking. As usual, Ribbon seized the opportunity and grabbed the fragment, but she figured she may as well go ahead and stay at the top level. This meant that everyone once again had to use the catapults, though when Kirby was launched, he found himself blasting through not one, not two, but _three_ Scarfy creatures in the process, which would certainly save him some time.

Finally, they could have a clear view of the exit, and the only thing in their way was a couple of floating platforms that could spell certain doom if one was to lose their balance. No worries, though, as the platforms were occupied by some peace loving Pteran birds.

Adeleine picked up a rock and chucked it at one of the Pteran birds to get its attention. "Hey, birdies, wake up and give us a hand!"

Okay, _not_ so peace loving when an immature little brat is throwing rocks at them, but still birds nonetheless. They seized upon Adeleine's hat and flew off with it.

"Oh, that DOES it!" Adeleine growled, whipping out her easel and immediately painting herself a jet pack. She chased after her attackers and retrieved her hat…all while getting pecked in the process.

The others crossed the platforms and walked through the exit shaft of the cave, with Adeleine yet again being dragged by Ribbon.

They entered yet another cave, and immediately came face to face with an Emp; cute little penguins that scurried away when they sensed danger. Apparently, this one wasn't quick enough to evade being sucked into Kirby's mouth of no return.

Adeleine approached the puffball, who seemed to be turning blue.

"Kirby, you alright?"

She received no response, as Kirby turned full circle and sneezed on her. But instead of mucus and nasty germs coming in contact with the painter, Adeleine found herself covered from head to toe in icy goodness. She was frozen solid, showing that Kirby now had a new friend – Ice power.

"Hmm," Dedede pondered as he tapped the frozen statue of the painter girl, "I like it. I like it a lot."

"Me too," Waddle added as he began pushing Adeleine's frozen body.

They began moving steadily across skinny bridges that, for some reason, collapsed when one was on them for too long. Not even the Cairn creatures bouncing up and down caused the bridge to collapse, but the suspense didn't end there.

There were some strange holes within the walls with sets of eyes that followed the traveling group. Upon approaching one, Kirby was pulled back by Dedede before he was swallowed whole by the Glom frog that lived inside the whole. Its vibrant green skin and wild red tongue didn't go unnoticed by the gang.

"And this is why you always look both ways before crossing in front of the strange, kooky hole," Dedede said.

Continuing with their traverse across the skinny bridges, they found before them a Poppy Brother, armed with a bomb in both hands. Kirby removed the blue crystal and tossed it, and the Poppy was _not_ quick enough to avoid. Thus, a blue and black elemental crystal was created.

"Well, guess we'll find out about this one soon enough," Kirby said.

Walking through entrance paved the way for…yet another cave, but something different about this one. Strewn throughout their paths were waterfalls, and a strange spear chucker perched upon a platform…chucking spears.

"Those are Yarikos," Waddle explained, "all they do is throw their spears. They never get into any _real_ combat."

Kirby didn't notice the spear thrown his way until it was too late. He immediately embraced himself, unknowingly activating his new power combination: a frigid snowman that detonated when the arrow found its mark. Upon seeing the explosion, the Yariko, not willing to die that way, scurried off.

"Guess we know now," Kirby concluded.

It took no time at all to get pass all of the obstacles, Kapars, Galbos, and Flopper fish, as well as it took Adeleine to defrost from her frozen prison. They walked into the next room and the door behind them immediately was sealed shut.

Immediately, a giant Tick creature materialized in the center of the bridge. Its sweet, innocent eyes turned evil as a giant spike protruded from its top towards the ceiling.

Kirby began slipping under the bridge and saw a tiny platform directly under the giant Tick.

"If I can stand under it long enough, I can blow it up with this new snowman thing. Waddle, Dedede, you guys get the little ones."

"Got it," they called.

Waddle took the tiny Tick on the left, Dedede on the right, while Kirby became a ticking time bomb instantly underneath the Tick. He detonated a total of four times to destroy the creature, which opened the doors, but the platform Kirby was standing on began to descend until he came face to face with another crystal shard fragment.

Kirby smirked. "Well, what do you know? Looks like _ice_ know how to find the shards."

"Bad…" Ribbon said with a figurative gray cloud above her head at Kirby's bad joke. "Let's keep going."

They found themselves back outside in the beach area, only having to contend with more of those meddlesome holes, but they didn't just hide Flopper fish this time, now they were hiding Kapars as well.

Soon, they found a large bridge like area with a _huge_ waterfall surrounding it. Floating atop the bridge was a Zoos creature: little yellow guys that float in dark clouds and throw lightning bolts at their enemies.

Kirby, upon crossing the bridges, found he could slip through the bottoms and ended up at the bottom itself. He soon found himself staring at a strange black and blue checkerboard platform. He then realized that he had both an ice and bomb combo. Transforming into Frosty the Bombman once again, he stood over the platform and exploded, shattering the platform and falling into another one of those green blob thingies. It launched Kirby through the mountain structure and he was shot skyward, eying a shard fragment that he was able to eye just in time before he passed it.

Regrouping with the others, Kirby and the gang approached the end of the sandy beach path, not knowing where to go next. That is, until Adeleine approached the edge of the cliff and began prancing about.

"We've got three shards on here so far, they could be anywhere around here! And I mean--"

Adeleine lost her footing and slipped, her entire now body now overtaken by the full force of the waterfall she was standing by.

Kirby looked to Ribbon as they watched Adeleine go further.

"Ribbon, please tell me it's coming."

Ribbon just sighed and called for the others to jump down. When Dedede and Waddle followed suit, Ribbon looked to Kirby.

"I'm gonna need a hard belt for this one."

_And now, the chase for Adeleine begins._

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_Author's Note: Like I said, enjoy the chapters and another look at Kirby 64. Read and review, folks, and the next installment will be up soon!_


	12. Adeleine's Comeuppance

**Phazon:** Animes have fillers, and so does this fan fiction. No, I'm not slacking off or anything, but I had to get this whole thing with Adeleine settled. If anyone out there thinks this short chapter means that I'm going to do the rest of the story half heartedly, you couldn't be any more wrong. I haven't forgotten my mission to make this the best Kirby 64 adaptation, and this needs a bit more humor to liven things up…in more ways than one. Anyway, enjoy the relatively short chapter!

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**Adeleine's Comeuppance**

Soaked, drenched, and covered from head to toe in water, Adeleine painted herself a blow dryer (a _wet_ blow dryer) and began drying her body off when more water splashed on her.

"Bah," she said to herself, "that was a fun ride! At least, for once, nothing bad happened."

"Not _yet_."

A shiver went through Adeleine's spine as she realized, to her surprise, amazement, and above all, fear, that Ribbon was floating behind her, a mean stare on her face and hands on her hips.

The fairy growled and yanked Adeleine by her collar. "Missy, remember when I said that I wouldn't do anything to you just yet?"

Adeleine didn't answer; she just nodded hastily. Thankfully, Ribbon let her go as soon as Waddle, King Dedede, and Kirby landed on the scene.

Ribbon calmly took Adeleine's paintbrush out of her hand and set up the easel. Adeleine watched in mixed horror and shock as Ribbon began painting a picture of what appeared to be a belt.

Her eyes wide open, Adeleine began running in the opposite direction, only to be held back by Waddle Dee and King Dedede.

"Addy, this is for your own good," Dedede explained, trying to suppress his laughter as he nudged Waddle, "and for _our_ entertainment!"

Once Adeleine had completed a perfect belt, she sat on a log that floated in her direction. She sighed as she sat down and beckoned Adeleine to come forward, but she would not. However, when Dedede pushed her in the direction of the fairy, she had no choice.

Here's the thing. Ribbon was at least half Adeleine's size, but the fairy had one big advantage: the power of the Crystal Shard gave her more power than she could afford, making it very simple to set Adeleine over her lap.

Adeleine begged and pleaded, kicking for her life. "Ribbon, d-d-don't do this…I promise, no more trouble from me!"

But Ribbon could only watch and smile. "Get over yourself," she said, "you've had this coming, and seeing as this is the first, I'll go easy on you."

With that, Ribbon brought the belt up in the air, and as soon as she brought it down, the pain began.

Waddle and Dedede were holding onto each other to keep from laughing, but it was no use. Even Kirby had to chuckle as he witnessed a small fairy like Ribbon bringing a belt down on Adeleine's skirt.

"This…is for…all the times…on Rock Star…and for…jumping down the waterfall…without our permission," Ribbon yelled in between smacks and slaps.

If anything, Adeleine gave up yelling as she felt her bottom burning at this pain, lest she wanted to receive even _more_ pain from the fairy from Ripple Star.

Adeleine was so busy moping that she didn't notice Dedede had thrown a rock at her, enraging her.

"HEY, KNOCK IT OFF, YOU FAT BASTARD!"

But Adeleine didn't notice Dedede's _true_ intention, to get Adeleine angry to the point where Ribbon believed she was yelling at _her_.

"Bastard, huh?" Ribbon muttered, bringing the belt down again, even harder than before. "We'll see about that."

Kirby had to cover what _would_ be his ears as the smacking sound got even louder and harder as Adeleine began wailing, screaming, screeching to the sky, scaring away all of the Pteran birds.

At this point, Adeleine's bottom was probably cherry red, but Ribbon was having the time of her life, as were the laughing Dedede and Waddle.

The sounds of _Smack_, _Slap_, and _Smash_ continued for a solid ten minutes before Ribbon got tired and Adeleine had finally stopped crying.

"Oh, no," Dedede attempted to say in between laughs, "don't stop! I swear, we'll probably never hear Adeleine cry like that again!"

Ribbon sighed and let Ribbon off of her. "No, Dedede, if we know Adeleine, and I'm sure we do by now, I assure you this is only the tip of the iceberg."

Adeleine didn't even attempt to sit down; she was in too much pain to do walk, let alone run away from Ribbon, who made no attempt to give chase.

"Let this be a lesson to you," Ribbon said to the artist, "don't mess with me or you'll get the belt…or something worse."

"Can we please get moving?" Kirby said, impatiently.

"Let's," Ribbon responded as they walked on.

Adeleine looked towards the sky, rubbing her sore bottom as one thought crossed her mind.

_What'd I do to deserve this?_

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Author's Note: Probably the shortest chapter, and it'll stay that way. This was just a filler chapter to get this whole thing with Adeleine settled, but don't think that's the last time it'll happen. Read and review, folks, and the next will be up soon.


	13. A Jewel of a Waterfall

**Phazon:** The creek area isn't exactly one of the most interesting areas in Kirby 64 in my opinion, but it's a level nonetheless, so I have to flesh it out as much as possible. As I said, this will be a fully detailed novelization and nothing's going to stop me from doing so and making this a memorable Kirby 64 fic. Anyway, to bring others up to speed, Adeleine received her just desserts and everyone finds themselves at the creeks.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**A Jewel of a Waterfall  
**

Logs continued flowing down the gentle ravines as Kirby and Waddle waded through the water and over the rough, rocky paths. The pink puffball absorbed a Sparky creature as the entourage approached the rickety bridge suspended by some larger rocky cliffs.

Dedede climbed atop the rocks and began traversing the bridge, pushing away the annoying Bouncy spring creatures that got in his way.

Bringing up the rear were the ever happy Ribbon and the not so happy Adeleine, who was still griping over her incident with the fairy from Ripple Star.

"You didn't have to hit me so hard," Adeleine protested. "You've got the power of the shard behind you, so you're stronger than me by default."

Ribbon smiled, casually twirling the ever growing Crystal Shard in her right hand as she stared into the precious jewel.

"I could ramble on and on about how you _deserved_ that, but--" Ribbon paused and picked a piece of fruit from a tree, "it's _fruitless_ for me to continue, don't you think?"

"Stop making fun of me and using fruit as a metaphor!"

Kirby looked back as he discarded the Sparky and went for a Cairn creature when he heard some arguing. "Would you two hurry up and get up here with us?"

The two ladies (well, one, in terms of maturity) caught up to the rest of the gang as they saw a lone Poppy Brother tossing his bomb up and down.

"Are you all looking for the sacred crystal shard fragments?"

"Have you seen one come by?" Kirby replied anxiously.

The Poppy pointed ahead to the tunnel. "Fell somewhere into that cave…but, beware of giant crabs."

Adeleine nonchalantly picked up one of the smaller Kany crabs, which snapped anxiously to be freed.

"Like this one? Well, these are no problem for us."

Dedede started pushing the group ahead, eager to go on and leave this…strange little bomb man behind.

The rocky paths were rough enough, but the gang soon had to trek through the shallow waters and enter the mysterious cave.

The cave itself was lit by the strange glowing light emitted off of the flowers alongside, not to mention the ever fluttering Propeller creature that spouted ice in every which way.

Waddle Dee approached the rocky bridge and warily stepped on the first ledge. Surprisingly, it collapsed under the tiniest of steps. The red puffball looked back to the others and summed this obstacle up in one word.

"Run."

Kirby, Ribbon, and Waddle zipped so quickly across that you'd never notice the stony bridge starting to give way. One more step and it'd collapse there and then.

King Dedede felt a shove from Adeleine.

"You're the stronger one," she explained, "you go first."

The second that the king began running at full speed, he felt a tug. Adeleine held tightly onto his robe and didn't intend on letting go until they were safely across.

"Let…me…go…girl," Dedede strained under the weight of the little painter, but she wouldn't budge. Soon enough, Dedede had made it across the stony bridge, but Adeleine, holding tightly and being dragged under his weight, soon slipped and began falling…falling…falling into the dark ravine.

Waddle and Dedede looked to Ribbon with curious eyes.

"Do we have to?" Dedede asked.

Ribbon sighed. "I suppose we can't leave without her, and besides, I'll get to administer more punishment if she gets out of line again."

"Amen to that!" Dedede exclaimed.

"Amen to what?" Asked Adeleine, who was now wearing a jet pack she hastily painted as she fell. "They don't call me the princess of painting for nothing."

"But they don't," Waddle intervened.

Adeleine rolled her eyes as she disposed of the pack. "I'll ignore that."

Slip sliding on the waters in front of the gang was a Penguin, hoping it wouldn't be absorbed by the all mysterious Kirby, but the pink puffball paid him no mind and began climbing the ridge, setting his sights on the ablaze Bobo.

"And now," Kirby said, "we have some fun."

He took the brown elemental crystal from his mouth, waited for the Bobo to come in his direction, and threw it, hitting the target dead on. From this came a red and brown elemental crystal that Kirby absorbed.

"Come on, then," Ribbon called as the shard began to glow, "it can't be that far now."

It wasn't, as the entourage entered the next chamber and the exit shafts sealed shut. Before them was a complex structure of some sort, but everyone could hear the distinct sound of pincers pinching.

Ribbon floated underneath some wooden bridges and saw at the very top a Crystal Shard fragment that was protected by some red and brown surface that the shard couldn't penetrate.

"We'll just have to take out the Kany crabs first," Waddle concluded, "while Kirby can go for the big one."

And the plan went into action. Dedede and Waddle occupied separate levels and began taking out Kany crabs left and right, while the pink puffball approached the upper plateau and came eye to the with a giant Kany – bigger than any he'd ever seen. He was so distracted by the monstrosity that he was nearly sliced in half when he avoided the Kany's pincer.

Hopping left and right, Kirby got to the side and began testing out his new combination attack, which came in the form of a mini volcano he could call his own. Spewing from his top were molten fireballs that began burning the giant Kany. If it had a voice box, it would be screaming its heart out at being burned away, but it did not, so its death came in the form of a giant explosion that rocked the cavern the gang occupied.

Walking to where the beast once stood, Kirby put two and two together and began spewing fireballs again, shattering the surface as he saw the shard floating there. Of course, he got it and tossed it down to Ribbon.

The exit shaft crumbled as bright light broke through, revealing the forestland and ravines once again. Kirby slightly lost his footing and fell onto the logs beneath him, but one would never notice due to his puffy exterior.

The currents were too strong for any of them to take, even Dedede, so Waddle found and quickly crafted some wooden boxes that could be used as makeshift boats. The problem is that they weren't well constructed and could probably bust apart at any second.

Kirby, Ribbon, and Waddle occupied one, while Dedede and Adeleine…after multiple attempts, occupied another as they began to let the currents take them down.

The ride began slow and smooth, occasionally having to jump over some snapping Kany crabs and avoid some collisions with obstacles, but everything was turning out fine. The wind and currents carried them along as Ribbon spotted something glowing when they approached a waterfall.

"Shard ahead!" She exclaimed as she flew from the box and grabbed the shard fragment and safely flew back to the boat.

In the other boat, Adeleine was constantly screaming for her dear life as water splashed her, while Dedede grew impatient.

"Hey, Waddle," he called, "when's this ride gonna end?"

The answer came soon enough when both makeshift boats were careening over a large waterfall as they fell from their rides and landed in the water.

Kirby pressed on. Surely, they didn't need some silly old boats to survive here in the creeks, but something new was about to take place. Floating above the puffball's head was a candy cane surrounded by some type of mystical force. Of course, he couldn't help but devour it, but the second he did, he found himself taken over by a surge of energy as he started rushing ahead, down the ravines and leaving the team behind.

"Wow," Ribbon mused, "he sure loves his candy. Come on, we can't let him get away!"

Kirby rushed and rushed and rushed down the waterways, taking out the Sir Kibble knights that tried to halt him, the Floppers that flopped in his way, and the Nruff pigs that tried overtaking him. This moment of invincibility wouldn't last forever, as the puffball began losing his hyper nature and slowed to a halt at the bottom of a small waterfall.

"Whoa…killer sugar rush."

He turned around and saw that the waterfall behind him had a hollow center which housed a Crystal Shard fragment that he grabbed. Guess he'd better get it to Ribbon.

Soon enough, Kirby arrived at the end of this obstacle and looked ahead, never hearing the screams of his comrades as they scrambled on the dirt road behind him.

"Stop lying around, guys," Kirby complained, "stop sitting around and let's start climbing those waterfalls!"

As Kirby walked on, Dedede rubbed his sore forehead as he looked to Waddle Dee.

"Does he remember anything after eating sugar?"

Waddle shrugged what would be his shoulders. "You'd think so, but no."

Splinter logs aligned the waterways and began rolling involuntarily towards Kirby, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being shish-kabobed, the same went for the entourage who was dragging behind.

To quicken the pace, Kirby grabbed a Pteran bird nearby and hoped it would fly him high enough to avoid the logs, but the bird itself grew tired under Kirby's weight and dropped the puffball onto a platform.

A Galbo was about to burn Kirby alive, but the puffball made use of this and combined two Galbos in order to resurrect the larger fireball that could be used to propel himself forward.

Once he was high enough, Kirby launched forward, blasting through Pteran birds and Bouncy springs that couldn't get out of the way in time. More than that, he avoided all of the logs that he otherwise would have had to avoid the hard way. He arrived at the end of the waterway and saw none of his comrades.

After a good…fifteen minutes, Ribbon was the first to approach Kirby, battered and tired, protected by the shard's power. Waddle, Dedede, and Adeleine soon came afterward.

"I'm…going…to _kill_ you," Adeleine declared as she took a step forward. She took another step and charged towards Kirby, who stuck his foot out and tripped the painter, sending her down yet…another waterfall. Of course, everyone followed suit and jumped after her.

Give it a good half an hour and now the gang stopped flowing down the waterfall and looked at their current location, which was _nothing_ like the creeks they just came from.

Adeleine opened her eyes. "How'd we end up back at the beach?"

"Must be some sort of transcontinental waterways connected between the forests and beaches and the waterfalls washed us out to shore," Waddle explained.

Kirby got off of Ribbon and got ahead of the entourage, pacing back and forth like a general leading his squadron.

"Come on, troops," he said bravely, "let's get the rest of the shards!"

He began rushing down the sandy beach, leaving the others stunned. They walked on, but were confused.

Ribbon muttered under her breath. "To think I used to be the overenthusiastic one."

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Seems like Kirby is taking his role of leader a bit too seriously, but it's all worth it in the end, right? Tune in next time as the quest for the remaining fragments of the Crystal Shards continues. Next time on Kirby 64: Out of Darkness Comes Light! Read and review!


	14. Hidden Beach Shards

**Phazon: **OH, NO! NO, NO, NO! A CHAPTER I UPLOADED DIDN'T GET A SINGLE REVIEW, BUT IT GOT ALL OF THOSE VIEWS! YOU ALL ARE HORRIBLE AND I'M NEVER GONNA UPDATE AGAIN AFTER THIS!

Okay, not really. All jokes aside, as I said, the story will continue regardless of feedback, and I'm nearing one of my favorite segments of the game, so I must continue no matter what.

In response to **SSJ- Sonic**, that was probably the best criticism I've received, but I've a few words for it.

Maybe the fairies on Ripple Star did have names, I wouldn't know. I don't have the instruction booklet at my side, just the game and videos of the entire game played through. As for descriptions of what enemies look like, I could do that, but some of that would detract from the _main_ story, and I'm describing most of the new enemies seen anyway. I'm doing this under the assumption that those who read have played Kirby 64, that's why. And if you hadn't noticed, I'm going for enough detail and description as it is. You said "Description actullay (spelled incorrectly) adds more feeling and enjoyment into a story" and it does, which is what I've been doing this entire time. I'm _not_ doing a page by page, line by line, piece by piece rewrite of the game. I'm expanding on the main story without detracting from the heart of the game. As people have said, they recognize familiar locales based on the descriptions and settings, so how is it that you have not? When's the last time you played Kirby 64 anyway? You even remember what the levels looked like, because that's how I've described them thus far.

The Kibbles, that was intentional. I'm aware that they are knights and use boomerangs, but I changed that for chapter 3. And as far as me needing a little work in description, what do you think this entire story has been about in the first place? These aren't kiddy descriptions of the levels, if that's what you think, because they are not. More than that, I don't do super fast updates; I take precious time that goes into creating the best chapter I possibly can, not the best chapter possible that the fans want. I haven't rushed anything thus far, otherwise I'd be done and this fic would be incomplete grammatically and not well on my standards. Either you're setting your standards too high on my fic and expect me to basically REWRITE the game inch by inch, or you believe I'm not doing enough, which I can honestly say I am. There's no rushing- each chapter takes delicate work for as many minute details as I can fit, so please, not to be rash, but don't sound like an expert critic and expect me to "make chapters have better quality if you take your time with it," as you said, because I'm not doing this for the fans, it's so I can enjoy sitting down and writing about a game I deeply enjoy. I don't know why you think I'm rushing, but lose that, because that's the last thing I want to do with this work. Don't take this harshly.

**Anyway**, back to the point, this'll pick up from the last level. Ever notice how the levels don't have names, which makes it even more difficult to think up a chapter name? Ah, well, no big deal. Let's continue with the adventure.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

------------------------------------------

**Hidden Beach Shards**

From the sandy beaches to the creeks, Kirby and co. were back at the seaside, soaking up all of the sun's rays as Adeleine built herself some tiny sand castles.

Ribbon surveyed her surroundings before turning to Waddle and Dedede. "Can't be too far, now," she said, "there aren't that many shards left on Aqua Star."

Kirby scratched what _would_ be his head and pointed forward. "All right then, troops! The fairy says we're almost done on this raindrop of a planet, so let's get to going, got it?"

"Whatever," Dedede replied, swinging his hammer. He was eager pound something into submission, but there was no time for that.

The journey commenced and began walking ahead, stepping over any Mites that came out of the ground. However, as Mites only looked like orange balls with legs, it was hard to distinguish the difference between them and any other beach ball.

Obstacle wise, there were huge, _huge_ sand hurdles that felt like hills, atop one of them was a Chacha- multicolored hula skirt wearing creatures that swung their maracas back and forth, even when there was _no_ music playing.

"Um…excuse me; have you seen any crystals around here lately?"

The Chacha paid Adeleine no mind as she went ahead and shook those maracas like there was no tomorrow. It was only when it was suddenly crushed by the weight of Dedede's hammer did the maracas stop.

Waddle patted the king on his back. "Nice one," he said as they continued down the sandy pathway.

Adeleine jumped along the floating brown platforms when she suddenly lost her footing and suddenly was overcome by immense pain. Her backside was now within the grasp of an angry Kany crab, and it pinched and pinched and _pinched_ the painter girl for her dear life. She was blazing down the pathway, leaping high over the sand pits where she would have been consumed by a large Snipper.

"Adeleine," Ribbon called, "just stand still!"

The painter girl did when she reached some peculiar looking sandcastles with red flags atop them. Next to them was a very good sand sculpture of an elephant, but Adeleine had no time to admire that. Waddle broke her concentration by coming over and body slamming the Kany crab into nothing.

Chuckling, Adeleine put her hand on the back of her head as she walked on. "Guess I'm not as smart as I thought I was."

Dedede rolled his eyes. "Could've fooled me," he muttered to himself.

Everyone grew impatient with the abundance of sand in this seemingly endless…sand! They eventually arrived at some shallow waters, though they were being bombarded by Shotzos- cannons that shot at various projectiles that got in their line of fire. The gang had come in contact with them before and knew they were impervious to damage, so they avoided the blasts and trudged through the water.

Before continuing, however, Kirby discarded his power up in lieu of something more fitting for the situation. There were some blocks suspended above him, and one of them hosted a Kapar; and of course, they could be identified by those green crowns they threw. Kirby avoided one throw and absorbed the creature before it could run, but the puffball wasn't done yet.

"You guys go on ahead," he said as he fell towards the water, "I just need one more thing, first."

Kirby fell into the drink with a 'Splash!' as he narrowly avoided some spiky coral that would've punctured his puffy exterior. His target came into view in the form of a green fish that he couldn't identify at the moment, but he'd seen it before and knew they possessed the Bomb ability. Removing the green elemental crystal from his mouth, Kirby aimed carefully and threw the crystal towards the fish before it could explode. Now the puffball was reunited with that ninja star attack he'd grown attached to back on Pop Star. He swam until he reached the rocky cliffs where he climbed out and saw everyone waiting for him.

In the next area, there was _no_ sand whatsoever, so there was a collective sigh of relief from everybody who had grown sick of that sand, but that didn't mean things were going to get any easier. There was a large rocky mountain before them that the Crystal Shard was reacting to, so obviously, they had to get inside there and get the jewel.

The problem? After getting past the mean looking Gordo that was ready to puncture them with its spikes, Kirby and crew found themselves on a rickety looking bridge.

Kirby walked across and motioned for the others to follow. "Come on, there's no trouble here!"

How wrong he was, for once he stepped on one of the final planks, Kirby was shot in the air by a geyser beneath the plank and he was sent skyward. He grabbed onto a Pteran bird and hovered over the hole that would lead him into that rocky mountain.

Kirby fell and fell and fell some more until he landed, finding himself in some sort of rocky oasis with water dripping down the sides of the inner caverns. Staring at a strange green and black rock, Kirby threw a ninja star at it and watched as the rock crumbled from the explosion. Underneath all of the debris was a Crystal Shard fragment that he grabbed. He then stepped onto the center rock and was launched upward by a huge geyser. Soon enough, the exit shaft came closer into view as the puffball jumped and landed on the other side of the mountain, discarding his elemental combo in the process. The others were on dry land, waiting for Kirby to come, though some Gordos hovered above him, never moving as he cautiously stepped on one plank.

He immediately stepped back as the plank was shot up and obliterated by the Gordo's spikes.

Kirby mentally counted to three as he ran as quickly as his feet would take him across the bridge, each of the planks shot up behind him and was destroyed by spikes as he jumped over the logs and landed aside Waddle. The pink puffball absorbed the Cairn and figured it would come in handy later on.

There was what looked like a seesaw that Kirby got on one side of as he looked into the distance and saw dry land across the vast open sea. The question was: How would they even get there without having to swim and avoid being eaten by sharks?

The answer came when Dedede got on the other side and slammed the high end with his hammer, catapulting Kirby far off into the distance. Ribbon picked up the pace and flew after him.

"Don't worry," Waddle yelled, "we'll catch up!"

Kirby landed a far ways off on solid ground, staring off at the multitude of logs in front of him. Ribbon floated to his side and began flying ahead. When she paused by stopping on one of the logs, it soon began sinking as she jumped off.

"Guess we can't stay on those too long," she concluded.

While Ribbon flew across, Kirby jumped from log to log, careful not to hang around too long before it went down. Soon, there were Fishbone creatures, and Kirby got another crazy idea for a power combination. He took out the rock elemental power and tossed it at the Fishbone, creating a green and brown crystal. Continuing, Kirby arrived at the rocky cliffs and began climbing higher until he reached the top where Ribbon stared into the hole. They knew this pattern already.

"I'm betting it's a trap," she said to Kirby as they jumped down.

As they guessed, the opening was sealed as a giant Kapar appeared and began throwing a humongous crown towards Kirby, who jumped over it while Adeleine contended with the bumbling Bumber creatures as they floated down.

The new ability allowed Kirby to transform into some sort of random creature that was impenetrable to damage. This was enough to bring down the Kapar when Kirby kept lunging himself forward, Ribbon adding by throwing Bumbers into the giant Kapar until it gave way and exploded, along with its minions. The Crystal Shard fragment materialized above them and Ribbon added it to the current one as the two continued down.

The two began falling and falling until they ended up in the drink, Kirby transforming now into a fish. When he released the transformation, the wall before him shattered as he and Ribbon swam up to see a wide cavern. The Shard began acting wildly, so there _had_ to be another piece, but how would they reach it? Ribbon could of course fly up there, but Kirby intervened and began turning into random animals. First it was some amoeba, then into a bird, and lastly, a rat. However, the rat was able to scale the walls, much to their advantage.

When he grabbed the shard, Kirby released the transformation and the two fell back into the water and swam on, emerging on the other side and standing before a platform with a Splinter log on it.

Ribbon leaned over to Kirby. "Can it hear us?"

"I don't doubt it," he responded, "there are still things about this world that confuse me."

Shrugging her shoulders, Ribbon cautiously stepped onto the platform, causing it to tilt and the Splinter log to roll towards her until Kirby whisked her away to safety. This was going to be the same for the next few levels that had more and more logs, so Ribbon flew Kirby above the platforms and avoided the logs in the process until they jumped over the last hurdle and began falling.

They reached the bottom, where the rest of their comrades were waiting as they stared toward the light. Pressing on, they swam and swam until they reached the surface.

Everyone was now outside and back at the seaside, but all was not complete yet. There were still some missing fragments that had to be found, and a lone Poppy Brother stood at the edge of some purple cliffs, staring into the deep underwater world below.

"If you're looking for those jewels," he said, "the rest of them are down there. About four of them landed here awhile ago, if you were curious."

All _was_ indeed well as the entourage clapped their hands ecstatically before the Poppy cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, there are fragments about, but be careful. The tales of the hideous Acro the whale are flying about, and I don't think he'll be giving up the jewel that landed in his territory without a fight."

Kirby looked back to the others. "Guys, stay here by the seaside until I get back. I'm going it alone from here."

"But Kirby--"

"No 'buts,' Ribbon," Kirby interrupted, "I can handle myself and I'll be sure to get those shards back from under there. Plus, I don't have to worry about suffocating or anything like that, but I don't know about the conditions of everyone else, so I'd like it if you all sat this one out, all right?"

The others nodded as the Poppy brother patted Kirby on the back.

"You're a fine leader, you are, my friend."

Smiling, Kirby jumped high into the air in a dismount and plunged forward into the deep depths of the sea…alone.

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**Author's Note:** We're finally nearing the end of Aqua Star, which will be wrapped up in the next chapter as the gang approaches one of my favorite planets. Sorry if this update took awhile, but with school and all, it may be that way, so I hope this lives up to expectations. Read and review, and I'll see you next chapter!


	15. Acro and the Caverns

**Phazon:** Sorry about the lateness of the update, chaps, but school's been murder and I'm doing the best I can with most of my stories. Thanks for the feedback, particularly those on the animals from past Kirby games. I'd heard of them at the last second when I had already updated. Anyways, we've _FINALLY_ reached the end of Aqua Star as Kirby goes into the sea alone to find the last Crystal Shards of the water planet. Enjoy the chapter and the fight that follows!

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**Acro and the Caverns**

Kirby landed in the water with a thump, taking a minute to admire the beautiful coral strewn around him. The wonderful blues, greens, light purples…it all made him gasp in shock. How one can do that underwater I don't know.

As Kirby fell, he narrowly avoided the Squibby creatures: white seahorse looking things with pink faces and black eyes that shot three tentacles out of their heads. The puffball made sure to avoid the tentacles as he hit the sand at the bottom. He saw a purple light emanating from the strange looking chasm and swam in.

The underwater caverns were huge…_amazing_ spectacles to see. Schools of Flopper fish swam to and fro. Kirby, swimming along the calm paths, absorbed one of the Pedos: green and yellow rockets with eyes that had the Bomb ability. This was sure to prove useful eventually, Kirby thought to himself. Kirby began swimming above some deep chasms when he noticed rocks began falling from above. It was no problem that the bomb couldn't solve. Kirby began bombing his way out (in…out, he's underwater, right?) until he arrived at another cave entrance that led him to yet another room.

_Now_ things began to get interesting. The currents in this room were much stronger than those in the previous ones. Kirby couldn't explain why, but he felt as if he should stay as far left as possible. It could've possibly done him some good later on if he did as opposed to being washed away. Avoiding the crazy looking rock structures and fixtures, Kirby got a bit too confident and almost ran into a Gordo that was ready to puncture his puffy exterior.

"Phew," Kirby gasped, "that was a close one."

Finally, Kirby saw the top of the room, where some Bomb blowfish were swimming about. Kirby could make out the faintest glisten up there in the small opening above. It took some hard strokes and swimming against the current, but Kirby was able to retrieve the shard. There was no time to celebrate, however, as Kirby was washed away by the current and into the tunnel area where he sped along the route, coming in close contact with Glunks, Kany crabs, and explosive blowfish. In order to slow down, Kirby narrowly grabbed onto the strange purple coral pole that was able to hold him…for now.

"This isn't good," Kirby said to himself, "I'm sure to be washed out of here before I even get the rest of the shards."

Looking down, Kirby saw something shining amongst the coral, and lo and behold, it was another crystal shard fragment. Seems as if things were finally going Kirby's way, right? Wrong! A Kany crab waddled along and severed the coral that Kirby held on, causing the pink puffball to go speeding down the tunnel, colliding with Gordos and Fishbones in the process. Ouch, that was gonna sting later on.

Once Kirby came to a halt, he realized he wasn't in the same area anymore, but in a battle zone. He figured that by realizing the doors sealed shut behind him and a giant Blowfish was floating around the giant rock slab in the center of the water. It made no attempt to attack whatsoever; just went around and _around_! Unfortunately, the current wasn't with Kirby, who began tumbling in the opposite direction and crashing into the Glunks.

Kirby hid amongst the coral, trying to think of a plan so he could crush the giant Blowfish. He couldn't do this while the current was against him, so all he did was swim frantically until he got clear aim and THREW! One bomb connected with the Blowfish, but still it did nothing.

Two more shots after another rotation and still, the Blowfish made no attempt to fight back.

"This is gonna be too easy of a fight," Kirby muttered, "if he won't even attack me back."

One more bomb did the deed as the Blowfish exploded, but it left behind no Crystal Shard fragment. Ah, well, Kirby thought, time for the next shards.

Problem, though. The currently was _devastatingly_ powerful as Kirby was pushed forward, earning himself mouthfuls of seaweed in the process. If that wasn't bad enough, he felt a giant rock smack him in the back of the head.

"What the--" Kirby turned around and ducked just in time to avoid a rock hitting him again. Tons of rocks were flying from behind and speeding in Kirby's direction before they crashed against the stone wall at the end. "This won't be good."

Kirby swam, ducked, and dodged as many rocks as he could, earning thumps every now and then until he landed in a safe zone that conveniently housed a crystal shard fragment. Finally, Kirby looked ahead and saw a light coming from an opening up above and swam for joy…until he was brought back to reality when a rock ran smack dab into him.

Of course, it did little damage. Kirby was so soft, it'd take an inferno at the least to harm him.

Hmm…an inferno?

Kirby swam higher and through the opening. He ended up in a larger, open cavern. Probably the largest underwater cavern he'd been in so far, he figured. No noise, no enemies, not even a fragment of the Crystal Shard awaited him as he arrived at what he perceived to be the last area of Aqua Star.

"Darn it," Kirby swore, "I thought the guy said something about a killer--"

_SWOOOOOSH!_

Something large and gray swam past Kirby. The puffball those bite marks as he rubbed his sore side before facing this underwater beast known as Acro the whale.

"You are Kirby, star warrior, are you not?"

Kirby was actually surprised that the creature was capable of speech, even more surprised that he actually _understood_ every single word.

"That's me," Kirby responded, "and I take it you're Acro. I believe you have something precious to me."

Indeed, Acro did have something for Kirby: a skull head that it spat out of its mouth. Kirby narrowly avoided it before going on the offensive. He pelted Acro with bombs, but was too focused on fighting to avoid the spikes from the Golbo hitting him in the face.

"You haven't one yet!"

This time, Acro spat three skull heads at Kirby, but Kirby simply jumped from one to another and threw one final bomb at the mighty whale. Kirby was fighting hard, but exhausted. It was hard to believe that this was the same Acro that fought him before. Something didn't add up; this one was more villainous.

Either way, Acro sinking to the ocean floor didn't signal the end of the battle. The ground beneath him began collapsing and Kirby began swimming higher, avoiding all of the debris falling his way.

Acro was back for round two and began spitting out missiles, though Kirby combined one of them with his Bomb ability and created a new concoction: rockets!

Kirby spat out three simultaneous rockets that chased after Acro all across the sea until they hit their target. Acro grew tired, his life force fading. However, he wasn't going out without an ace up his sleeve. He backed down for a few seconds out of Kirby's view and then swam viciously toward the pink puffball in an effort to swallow him whole, only to come face to face with a missile. Acro groaned and warbled as his body began giving off steam. At last, the mighty whale of Aqua Star exploded and gave up the jewel. Kirby floated upward to grab the final Crystal Shard of the planet. Feeling triumphantly, he swam towards the surface.

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Under the bright, brilliant sun, Kirby and the gang looked towards the waves lapping against the sand. Adeleine picked up a rock and began throwing them towards the water in an effort to make them skip. Dedede and Waddle followed suit, but Kirby was to outdo them all. He picked up a rock…he leaned back….he winded up for the pitch…closed his eyes…and was washed away by a tidal wave.

When Kirby awoke, he saw Dedede and Adeleine jumping after Waddle into the Crystal Shard that revealed the next planet.

"Hey, wait for me!" Kirby yelled as he jumped too. The Crystal Shard glowed brilliantly as it was shot out of Aqua Star and headed towards the next.

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Neo Star was known for a lot of things; the climate, the jungles, the caves, the volcanoes…it was a complete package. For now, the gang found themselves in the midst of the jungle, except for Adeleine, who was swinging from the vines like a wild animal.

Unfortunately, the painter girl lost her grip and fell on top of Ribbon. Bad timing for both of the females. Instantly, Adeleine felt herself once again draped over Ribbon's lap.

"Oh, yeah," Dedede said, relaxing on a log alongside Dedede and Kirby, "this is gonna be a long one."

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Review please and I hope you enjoyed! Sorry if this was a bit of a bore fest, but that last level in Aqua Star isn't one of my favorites, so I tried to get through as much as possible. Next chapter will be up soon, so enjoy the story and we'll return with the gang's exploits on Neo Star next time.


	16. The Mighty Jungle

**Phazon:** Finally, we've arrived at Neo Star, one of my favorite planets to play on. Sorry for the shortness of the last chapter, but as I mentioned, that one is kind of a bore to me, so I wanted to get to Neo Star as quickly as I could. Thanks for your feedback in the last chapters, particularly Wii-rock, and though the last chapter was short, I'm hoping this one will make up for that. Enjoy the next installment of the story.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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**The Mighty Jungle**

Dedede grabbed a coconut, carved it, and used both ends as earplugs to drown out the sound of Adeleine being spanked yet again by an angry Ribbon.

"Sheesh," Waddle scoffed, "how many more can that girl take?"

Kirby sighed; he didn't want this to continue happening, but deep down inside, he was laughing his head off. Does Kirby even _have_ a head?

"The more…you whine…the harder this will be…" the others heard Ribbon yell over Adeleine's cries until the painter had finally calmed down.

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Neo Star's jungles were full of lush and ample forest life that stretched for miles. Other than the screech of wild monkeys from afar, the jungle was very quiet.

Kirby, equipped with the flaming sword, began slashing away at the vines and stumps that hindered his path. He disposed of the ramming Hack that came rushing towards him and prepared to jump over the stump when he froze in his tracks due to an arrow that had landed a few inches in front of him.

Yarikos were natives of Neo Star and loved to throw spears at anything considered an enemy…which was pretty much anything that wasn't another Yariko.

"So this is the group trying to get the Crystal Shards," the creature said. "Well, try getting past me."

Gladly.

Waddle Dee came crashing down on the Yariko's head, obliterating it from existence.

The gang began jumping from log to log, avoiding troublesome Mariel spiders that would drop from the trees and try to abduct them. Adeleine, as usual, began to get a bit big headed and began running faster.

"We're going through this jungle too slow," she yelled to the others, "I'm going to clear the road ahead!"

"No, you fool!" Waddle yelled at the painter, but it was too late.

Adeleine opened her eyes and saw the spike pit in front of her. The girl screeched as loud as she could and put on the breaks, her feet just inches away from the edge.

"Phew," Adeleine said, wiping sweat from her brow, "that was a close one."

Unfortunately, this moment was short lived as a Pupa spider came crashing _down_, knocking the girl unconscious. The Mariel spider began to ascend into the trees, a smug expression on its face for being able to knock someone out.

Dedede walked up and began poking Adeleine with his hammer. "Well, maybe this is a blessing in disguise." He then picked Adeleine up and slung her over his shoulder as he jumped onto the wooden platform and then to the grasslands again.

Waddle walked along the grassy pathway, trying to see if he could find any shard fragments. He didn't notice the strange discoloration of the path as he stepped on a certain bush and the ground gave way.

"WADDLE!!" Kirby exclaimed as he rushed after his friend, but the ground underneath was not booby trapped, but instead, was solid ground.

Ribbon surveyed the scene and formed a conclusion. "Guess all of the ground here isn't hollow, but that doesn't mean it won't contain some type of trap either."

Kirby jumped on some floating platform, causing the Pupa spiders to drop down on instinct. They all met the feel of Kirby's fire sword as he slashed through them. Then, there was a shallow area of water they approached.

"Strange that there's water in a dry, humid place like this," Kirby said, withdrawing his sword and slashing through some Kapar creatures that had nothing better to do than pester him.

After jumping across the giant logs and busting through Pupa spiders, Kirby and the gang came to another series of logs to jump over. The difference was that when Waddle slipped and fell, this time, the ground wasn't hollow underneath the grass, but aligned with spikes. The red puffball went white instantly and was pulled out by Ribbon.

"All right, that's enough," Kirby concluded, stopping on the log. His stopping threw the pace off and Waddle, Ribbon, and Dedede had to put everything they had into keeping a finite balance. "If this grass that I jump onto is hollow, I'll swallow my own hat."

"You don't _own_ a hat!" Ribbon protested, but Kirby wasn't listening. He jumped onto the grass and it immediately gave way!

"Kirby's dead!" Waddle cried, never looking down, but assuming the pink puffball had been punctured by spikes.

"I never got to hit him with my hammer!" Dedede complained.

Kirby then jumped up to their level, a Crystal Shard fragment in his hand as he smirked and ran onward. The others joined him and they walked through a tunnel that'd been carved through a tree. It led them into a very narrow mountainous space with vines strewn everywhere.

"Come on," Kirby said, running ahead and paying no attention to the fact that the cliff they were standing on would end, "let's go get some more shAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAArds!!"

Ribbon looked over to see that Kirby had landed on yet another platform below…with another jewel in his hand.

"Ha!" Kirby said triumphantly as he climbed up to their level. "Eat it, anyone who's never found a fragment on their own."

The trek up the mountains proved difficult. Dedede, who led the way, had to fan away any random purple pterodactyls that got in his way as they jumped from branch to branch. They eventually reached the level where there was an exit shaft, Waddle nearly being punctured by a Yariko's arrow. They walked through the tunnel as Adeleine sprung back to life.

Instantly, they noticed this area was a lot wider than the jungle had been. There was no grassland seeing as there was no _land_ at all save for where they were. To reach the opposite end, Kirby and the gang would have to do so by using vines. Well, except for Ribbon since she could just fly over there.

Kirby made like Tarzan and began swinging from vine to vine, occasionally missing the first attempt and waiting for the vine to come back. A Bumber floated down from above and knocked him down a little but, but it hindered him not.

"Swinging across is kind of easy for me," he explained to Ribbon when he landed on the other side. "I did it all the time back on Pop Star with trees, so it's another nature."

Dedede was the next, fearful that the vines would collapse under his weight and he'd fall into the land below. Ribbon was _not_ about to attempt flying him over, for he was far too heavy for that feat.

Waddle followed suit, followed by Adeleine, who simply painted herself some wings and flew across. Ribbon took this as a mock.

"Oh, so now you think you can sprout wings and fly whenever you want to, right?"

Adeleine shrieked and hid behind Dedede. "No, not again! Not twice in one day!"

"Guys," Kirby interrupted, pointing to the tunnel, "let's keep going."

The fight stopped and the entourage continued, but Waddle came to Kirby's side.

"Come on, Kirb," he said, "don't tell me you don't think all these fights are hilarious."

"I _do_," Kirby replied, but then looked back at Ribbon, "but I don't want _her_ to find that out if you know what I mean."

"I don't."

They entered another narrow region comprised of some grassy platforms and a skinny bridge. The exit and entrance tunnels were sealed off by high amounts of shrubbery as Yarikos materialized on the platforms and before Kirby and the gang, a giant Galbo.

"All right," Kirby called as he withdrew his sword, "I'll take the dino and you guys stop the Yarikos from interfering."

Dedede took out his hammer and jumped to tackle the Yarikos, as did Waddle and Adeleine, though Kirby had to maintain his distance from the Galbo, which, he remembered correctly, breathed fire.

But the fire here was unlike that of normal sized Galbos; these flames could've turned Kirby into a marshmallow in a second.

Kirby got in three solid strikes with the flaming sword and managed not to get burned, but looked in horror when the Galbo expanded and got ready for the final breath of fire.

"Kirby, watch out!" Waddle yelled as he prepared to jump down, but Ribbon beat him to it. The fairy from Ripple Star shielded Kirby with the power of the Crystal Shard, which produced a protective barrier to shield them from the flames that leapt about, threatening to destroy the bridge they were standing on.

"Kirby," Ribbon called, "strike now while I can still hold this barrier up!"

Kirby nodded, withdrawing his sword as he jumped into the air and did a nosedive, sword first as the fiery blade blazed through the Galbo's flame attack. Soon enough, there was a massive explosion as the Galbo was split in two by the flaming sword.

Amidst the smoke stood Kirby, triumphant with blade in his hand as the others jumped down to join him. They left the zone just as the bridge behind them collapsed and the shrubbery dematerialized.

It was another drawn out area with no ground underneath. Now, instead of single vines, there were logs held up by four strong vines from above. Clearly, everyone would have to jump from log to log and hope it would support their weight.

The jump from log one to two was simple enough, yet the third continued swaying back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until Kirby was the first to jump onto it successfully. The others joined and continued jumping, yet had to duck to avoid the Pupa spiders dropping from above. Two more swaying logs until there were more stationary ones, but when Kirby jumped onto it, he had to float into the air immediately, for it didn't support his weight and collapsed. Luckily, as Kirby ascended higher, he grabbed another shard fragment that he tossed to Ribbon. The two of them reached the end.

"Who's gonna go first?" Dedede asked, waiting for Adeleine to protest, but she did not.

"I know, I know," the artist muttered, "just give me a boost."

The boost was a kick to the booty, which launched Adeleine towards the ground where Kirby was standing. Dedede and Waddle made their way over with little difficulty as they ran into the tunnel.

There it was again: lollipop that drove Kirby into sugar rush mode. Before anyone could do anything, Kirby gobbled the lollipop and felt his body overcome by a powerful force as he propelled himself forward, blasting through the Yariko's arrows and the pink Flora flower creatures from above. He ran through the cave, leaving the others trailing behind.

"You'd think," Dedede muttered to himself, "that a puffball that eats so much wouldn't get so hyper with some candy."

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Kirby recomposed himself while wandering through the cave when he suddenly felt Ribbon smack him upside the head.

"This would make this another sugar rush for you."

Adeleine rubbed her still sore bottom. "Why does he only get a slap on the _head_ while I get one on my--"

Ribbon clenched her fists. "Would you like _another_ one?"

The artist immediately shut up.

Suddenly, the Crystal Shard began reacting wildly, but the source was underground.

Dedede withdrew his hammer. "I got a way to do this. Everyone stand back."

"Why?"

The answer came when Dedede slammed his hammer down harder than he ever had before, creating a giant crack in the earth as the gang found themselves…plunging towards certain trouble yet again.

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**Phazon:** Well, I didn't know how to tie in getting to the end of the first level and entering the next, so I'm hoping this is enough. If so, I'd appreciate your feedback, but if not, meh…nothing I can do about that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the next one will be up soon.


	17. Mining for Shards

**Phazon:** Well, I didn't think we'd get to the point where someone found fault in the persona I gave Adeleine, but it was bound to come eventually. Let me say this for the record: I do _not_ hate Adeleine and have no ill will towards her. I just felt that she would be a bit immature seeing as she _is_ the only human character on this journey and still, in essence, a child. Fair enough, I'll lighten up on the so-called bashing of her character and try to make her more involved, but as far as Ribbon being the sort of mother figure to her, I don't intend on stopping that. To answer **Ganon** **Smash**, I'm no Adeleine hater and though you may feel it's OOC, I felt it necessary to have _someone_ be a bit naïve, and it's only your opinion about who is OOC and whether or not D should be the smart one or not. If you don't feel it's funny, same for **LoveMyPumas**, you know, all I can say is put up or shut up, as you're taking this way too seriously and need to focus less on how they're portrayed and more on the story as a whole. I'm not angry, but I want to clarify that I don't hate her character.

_Moving_ right along, we move to a more interesting level in Kirby 64, the mines within Neo Star. Sit back and enjoy the chapter.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

---------------------------------------------

**Mining for Shards**

This wasn't the first time Kirby had been falling downwards before. Through the course of his adventure, he could name opportunities when this same thing happened, but this moment was different.

Adeleine tried grabbing onto one of the stalactites, but they were far too slippery for her to grab on. Suddenly, she saw something shiny come closer into view.

"G-guys!" She yelled. "There's a crystal shard over there that we're gonna miss!"

"I can't float over there from this distance," Kirby yelled back, but Adeleine always had a plan.

The painter quickly took out a sketchpad and drew a gigantic bat, then looked to Dedede.

"Yo, King, smack Kirby over here and I'll send him into the shard!"

"Wait a second, I didn't agree to any--"

Before Kirby could finish, he felt the blunt end of Dedede's hammer slam into his puffy exterior, sending him towards Adeleine, who smacked him higher in the opposite direction towards a certain jewel. Kirby grabbed the shard fragment before falling through the chasm with the rest of the gang.

Upon falling through the crack, Kirby, Waddle, and Adeleine landed in a conveniently placed cart on an even more conveniently placed track, while Dedede and Ribbon landed in another cart.

"The heck are we?" Dedede asked as he rubbed his forehead.

"This must be the innards of Neo Star," Adeleine responded. She happened to know a lot since she occasionally traveled to Neo Star for inspiration.

It was then that Kirby felt the mine cart moving forward as he saw Waddle Dee had gotten out and started pushing the carts from behind until they picked up enough speed for him to jump in.

"Um…everyone," Ribbon piped up, "where are we going?"

"We'll find that out when the track ends," Dedede replied.

Dedede, however, wasn't able to keep the cart from running over a Poppy Brother, decked in his blue and white parka, and three Kany crabs in the process.

"JUMP!!" Ribbon yelled when she saw that huge purple rock blocking the way, but Dedede pulled the obscure lever in the mine and the cart lifted into the air, over the air and crushing two more flaming Bobo creatures.

Soon enough, the tracks were now broken up into midsections and the gang constantly had to stay on the higher level to avoid falling to certain destruction.

At a certain point, there was another Kany crab that Dedede's cart had missed, so it was able to pull apart a section of the track that Kirby's cart missed, catapulting it forward and over another purple rock where Adeleine quickly grabbed a floating Crystal Shard fragment.

"You guys!" Ribbon yelled from her cart. "Slow down and wait for us!"

But it was too late; Kirby, Waddle, and Adeleine went sailing ahead, practically squashing any enemy that was in their path. They were moving so fast, Pteran birds soon started pecking at them to get them to slow down.

"THEY'RE PECKING MY EARS!!!" Kirby wailed.

"You don't even _have_ ears!" Waddle retorted as he avoided a stalactite that nearly connected with his face.

A Gabon jumped into the mine cart and started clubbing Adeleine with its club, but she quickly kicked it out and saw that, as the cart went deeper and deeper into the caverns, the path would soon end.

"Um…you guys?" Adeleine said cautiously as she tapped Waddle and Kirby.

"Complain later, Adeleine," Kirby yelled as he tried fighting off numerous Pteran birds and Sparky creatures that were trying to zap him to oblivion.

Sighing, Adeleine quickly painted herself a hardhat and put it on as she saw the end of the track come closer into view.

Kirby and Waddle Dee suddenly looked forward, then screamed at the top of their lungs like babies as the mine cart crashed against the broken end of the track, sending the cart up into the air and careening even further into the caverns.

Ribbon had a blank expression face as she turned back towards Dedede.

"Are you too heavy for me to carry?"

Dedede grunted. "What do you think, fairy girl?"

Ribbon sighed, then looked back to the Crystal Shard, which she was sure had enough power for some form of protection.

"Hold on to me," she told Dedede as a protective shield began covering the two of them. They still felt the sudden jolt from the mine cart hitting the broken section of track and falling after the others.

Ribbon and Dedede landed smoothly on the ground next to Adeleine, who had since taken her hardhat off. On the ground, with swirls in their eyes, were the dazed Kirby and Waddle Dee, who hit the ground just a _bit_ too hard when their mine cart shattered upon hitting the ground. Dedede approached the pink puffball and started poking him with his hammer.

"Wake up, pinky," he said to Kirby as he began opening his eyes.

When he did, Kirby led his troop down the wet, rocky paths. Eventually, they arrived at a point where they saw a shadow and looked up, seeing the creature that cast the shadow was an I3: green cubes with an eye on them. They loved to come crashing down on anything under them, as other creatures have wanted to do.

"I've got an idea," Kirby said, making the motion as if he would snap his fingers. He quickly zipped off and was back in a second with a hardhat on whatever his head was.

"So now you're copying me?" Adeleine asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's for the dynamite power up," Kirby replied, "which is a mix of rock and bomb elemental powers. Hopefully, if I set it down here, the I3 will be blown up when it crash lands."

Everyone turned tail and hid somewhere, whilst Kirby threw the dynamite on the I3's shadow, cautiously moving under it so it would come down. Instantly, the I3's single eye looked down and saw a being. The I3 came crashing down while Kirby ran away, though when the I3 landed on the dynamite…nothing happened _at all_.

Kirby slightly came from behind the stalactite and was amazed that the I3 survived; they must have been made of some tough substance to survive dynamite.

"Huh…well I'll be," he said as the others approached him.

Instead of trying to come up with another plan, they just waited for the I3 to go back into the air, and then ran quickly across like mice. They then ran under some blocks, avoiding the arrows from three Fishbone creatures.

Dedede was walking along when he saw some large holes embedded into the walls on his left. The second Waddle tried walking across, he was pulled back by Dedede, who saved Waddle in time to avoid being devoured by a Glom; frogs that live inside hole in the walls that enjoy eating something and then spitting it back out.

"You could've gotten eaten…AGAIN!!" Dedede screamed at the top of his lungs, his scream echoing throughout the caverns.

"Let's just go," Adeleine muttered, slapping her forehead in frustration.

There was another series of I3 creatures, yet the number of spaces to hide seemed to decrease each time. Next, more and more Glom frogs seemed to come out of the holes, but they tried grabbing Kirby with their tongues, believing he was a piece of cotton candy, but Kirby threw some dynamite on their tongues and when the tongues retracted back into the mouths of the Glom frogs…**KABOOM**!!!

They walked on, ignoring Kirby's naivety and avoiding the bullets shot by the Wall Shotzo situated on a block.

After avoiding yet _another_ I3, the gang continued walking up the path, occasionally getting splashed by globs of water or, in Dedede's case, pinched by Kany crabs. Eventually, they walked through the shaft and entered another, larger cavern.

Wall Shotzos were aligned throughout the ceiling, some of them hanging onto stalactites and constantly shooting down at random targets.

As Kirby jumped to the next ledge, he found it was a bit slippery. Quite obvious, seeing that there were waterfalls that were drenching the ledges. He suddenly found himself slipping on the water, only for Ribbon to rescue him from falling towards darkness.

Dedede suddenly stopped at another platform upon hearing a 'squish' noise, indicating that he'd stepped in something that was _not_ water. He had stepped onto a Drop: blue jelly-like substances with red dots in the middle that usually dripped from stalactites.

"EWW," he moaned like a schoolgirl, "I STEPPED IN WATER WITH A RED DOT ON IT!!"

"…No comment," Ribbon said, rolling her eyes.

The ledges started descending lower and lower until the entourage arrived on one ledge that was completely clear. Walking through the cave, they emerged in another larger cavern that had pools of clear, purplish-blue water with Kany crabs strewn about.

A Zoos; yellow guys that float on dark clouds and throw thunderbolts at their foes, was floating above. Kirby would've taken the opportunity to absorb it, though he felt the dynamite would come in handy, so Waddle laid waste to the little guy.

As Adeleine avoided falling over a Flopper fish, she saw that they were descending even lower; the paths descending sort of as a waterfall would, yet the flow of water was a _lot_ less strong. On one level where the water level was a bit higher, there were some holes with water in them, but Dedede regretted getting his face close to one, only to have a Squibby: white seahorse creature things with pink faces and black eyes, hit him in the face with its tentacles.

"Well, it'll come in handle _some_ way," Adeleine concluded as she picked up the Squibby and used it as a sacrifice to destroy the Zoos that tried to shock the gang with its thunderbolts.

Kirby made quick work of the Kapar that tried to slice him in half with his crown before sliding down a stalactite and noticing the obscurity in the wall behind him, that was strangely colored black and brown.

Ribbon approached the wall and tapped it. "It feels a bit hollow, almost as if it can be broken easily."

"Lemme at that thing," Dedede boasted as he stepped forward, giving the wall three hard slams from his hammer, but to no avail. It was then that he felt a hat being placed on his head.

"For protection," Adeleine said as she winked at Kirby; obviously noticing the plan. She then placed similar hardhats on the heads of Waddle and Ribbon.

Kirby took out a wad of dynamite, ordering everyone to hit the deck. They all got the idea and hid inside the tiny water holes whilst the puffball threw the dynamite towards the wall before running himself.

_**BAM!**_

When Kirby looked up, the smoke had cleared and there was no longer any wall, but a Crystal Shard fragment that he snatched up instantly.

Everyone recomposed themselves and walked through the dank cave entrance to wind up in a strange room aligned with rocky, brown tiles. When the cave entrance behind them was sealed shut by a large rock and the entrance before them already locked, they took out their respective weapons and prepared for battle.

As opposed to some huge, destructive, **MASSIVE**, enormous foe to battle, the gang had to contend with…

"An army of DROPS?!" Adeleine exclaimed loudly, putting her hands on her hips. She then approached one of the Drops and watched before turning back to the gang. "Look at them; they don't even move!"

"Give it a rest, Adeleine," Ribbon told her, "with all the bosses we've encountered, a break like this is good. So let's savor it and kick some Drop butt!"

"All right," Adeleine said, at last, though she was hoping for a more challenging enemy.

Waddle and Dedede slammed dozens of Drops into the walls left and right, never tiring from the onslaught of water droplets. Adeleine painted herself a mop and took the Drops out, janitor-style, Ribbon simply stepped on a Drop one after another.

_Kirby_, on the other hand, had to stand on the sidelines this time. He willingly accepted; as he was sure that using dynamite in such a…confined space was sure to do more damage than wanted.

Eventually, everyone else had defeated all of the immobile, worthless drops, and the entranceways opened, leading the gang into a bit of a more open space. As Kirby stepped off of the platform to the lower level, he nearly ran into a Gabon that wanted to thrash him with his bone, but Dedede came hammering away and obliterated it.

Before them was a series of rising and descending platforms not unlike the gray marble slabs seen on Rock Star.

"On my mark," Kirby commanded the troop as they prepared to run, "three…two…run!"

Kirby sprinted forward and was followed by Waddle and Adeleine, yet Dedede and Ribbon had to wait for the slab to lower before coming to join the others.

As they progressed, avoiding the slabs and getting crushed, Adeleine began to feel a little…a little…a little…

"**CLAUSTRAPHOBIC!!"** Adeleine yelled at the top of her lungs as she felt the spaces getting narrower and smaller.

There was a section where there were two slabs as opposed to one, crushing anything that got in between them, including the Galbo that was so caught up in its argument with the Glunk that it didn't notice it had stepped exactly between the two slabs when they came together.

At last, another slab lowered and revealed a bright light, signaling that the gang had reached the end of their excursion in the caverns. When they walked through, Kirby had to shield his eyes from the light, but when he adjusted, he saw that they were high up in the sky, near the mountains.

Adeleine scratched her head in confusion. "How'd we go from the bottom of Neo Star to the top that quickly?"

The Crystal Shard began reacting once again; a shard had to be close, and I mean **very** close by.

"No time to explain," Ribbon said as she began flying forward, but for whatever reason, Adeleine had zoomed ahead of her and was running away faster…faster…faster…

Adeleine was gone.

Dedede brought his hammer down on a Mariel spider and groaned. "Here we go again."

And so, the quest for more shards _and_ Adeleine continued on Neo Star.

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**Phazon:** For those who have played Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, you will understand why I am having Adeleine go farther ahead, as she plays a vital role in the level that will be elaborated on in the chapter to come. For those who haven't; fear not, Adeleine hasn't been shut out of the story; she's just going to work on something a bit more vital at the moment. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this installment of the story as the gang gets closer to their goal of eliminating darkness and stay tuned for the next chapter of Kirby 64: Out of Darkness Comes Light.


	18. Afraid of Heights?

**Phazon: **I think I came off a bit harsh in the last chapter because of the feedback, and for that, I apologize. I should accept the criticism as opposed to not listening to it and trying to justify myself. Anyways, I'm surprised I updated this as quickly as I did, and this is a very long level, so the chapter's a bit longer than most. I tried to implement a bit more humor so reading this detailed thing doesn't seem like a chore. We're getting closer and closer to the end of Neo Star, so get ready! And I want to go on the record and state that I've been mistaken this entire time: I've been thinking that the Pteran creatures were those pink birds, but they are actually the purple pterodactyls; Bronto Burts are the birds. Anyway, that's the only mistake, so let's move on.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

---------------------------------------------

**Afraid of Heights?**

"To think that Adeleine would run off like that when we're high up in these mountains," Kirby muttered as he started throwing a Punc creature up into the air. Puncs were Spike elemental creatures that looked like green hedgehogs with yellow spikes protruding from their bodies. They would roll up into a ball and charge forward, but their movement was _very_ slow.

"Kirby," Waddle called as he moved up another rock, "would you really call these mountains?"

"Well, they're not your average mountains," Ribbon entered as she flew to Waddle's side, "but they just look like a bunch of well put together rock formations, like that thing over there," she pointed over to what would be perceived as a mountain, but really just looked like three GIANT rock pillars that ascended into the air in the formation of a mountain.

"I don't think these are mountains," Kirby challenged as he caught the Punc, which looked like it was getting motion sickness, "if they were, where are the white snowcaps?"

"Not _all_ mountains have to have white snowcaps, Kirby," Waddle Dee told him, slapping what would be his forehead.

Kirby looked back to Ribbon as he threw the Punc into a bouncing Cairn, creating a combination of Rock and Spike. "Do they have mountains on Ripple Star?"

Ribbon just shrugged as she flew. "You tell me; I know _about_ the planet from reading about its history, but I haven't actually seen all of it for myself."

"But the mountains in the books look _so_ much different than what these weird thingies are," Waddle said to Kirby.

Dedede couldn't take it anymore; he slammed his hammer down, crushing a rock and getting the attention of the others.

"**ARE WE GONNA SPEND ALL DAY ARGUING ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THOSE THINGS ARE MOUNTAINS?!?!?!"**

"………no," Kirby weakly replied.

"Good," Dedede coldly said, putting his hammer away.

Waddle walked ahead, now fearful of the king of Dreamland, when a Sandman popped out of the ground and began taunting him.

"You never gonna get the rest of them there Crystal Shards, ain't gonna NEVER--"

Dedede approached the Sandman and ended its life with a mighty blow from his hammer of doom.

"You killed my best friend!" Above them, situated on the blocks, was a Bonehead: skulls with black wings and eyes. Their only attacks, if that's what you called them, were swooping down on their enemies. If that failed, they would clumsily try it again…only to be defeated.

This case was no different, as Kirby drilled the Bonehead in two when a devastating drill appeared out of nowhere as a result of the power combination he had created.

The gang continued up the _rocky_ pathway, Kirby having to blast away some Mariel spiders that tried advancing on Ribbon, and yet another Punc that was feeling lonely without its mate. The trail began getting a bit rockier as they ascended higher, now having to contend with dropping rocks.

Ribbon shrieked as one of the said stones, a rocky creature by the name of…Rocky: stones with eyes and feet that would drop from greater heights, landed beside her. IT also felt the force of Dedede's great hammer. Apparently, the ruler of Dreamland was in a bit of a sour mood.

"I think it was that water with the red dot on it," he explained when he saw the others cower in fear.

Another Rocky dropped down; this time on a strange looking orange platform. When Kirby thrust himself forward with the drill, he not only obliterated the Rocky, but the platform as well, sending him downward into a hidden area that was housing a Crystal Shard.

Ecstatic, Ribbon looked on as the shard began to glow even brighter. "Looks like we're about half way done…maybe more than that."

Waddle Dee began bouncing from Bouncy to Bouncy, suddenly landing before a Propeller: happy little blue blobs with propellers on top. That Propeller wasn't so happy when Kirby disposed of his combo and absorbed _him_ instead.

"What was _that_ for?" Waddle Dee enquired.

Kirby patted his stomach as he suddenly belched…ice cubes. "Well, Neo Star _does_ have a volcano, so why not?"

"Can't argue with that," Ribbon agreed.

Continuing along, Dedede got a case of the hot feet when he stepped on a _very_ hot stone. The source? A Pompey: miniature brown volcanoes with yellow tops that shot stones out to bother anyone that got in their line of fire.

Kirby cautiously approached the Pompey. "Excuse me?"

The Pompey's eyes narrowed towards the pink puffball. "You have something to say?"

All Kirby had to do was exhale, freezing the Pompey instantly in a solid block of ice. He made use of this and sent it sailing into another Pompey, obliterating both of them in one shot.

Waddle Dee jumped across the two separated mountains and landed on a strangely red and purple coated mountain. Raining down from above were Bumpy creatures, yet they didn't serve a purpose because it wasn't raining.

"But I can't say the same for headache guy right here," Waddle chuckled as he pointed at Dedede.

Waddle had no time to laugh when he suddenly felt a Hack: walking stone hammers with the Rock ability, slam into his back, sending the red puffball towards Dedede, causing both of them to topple over.

"Hah!" The Hack chortled. "I have beaten one of the great warriors seeking to save the world from darkness, and now I'll finish off this pink one by--"

_Solidify_!

The Hack didn't even realize it was encased in solid ice when Kirby simply breathed onto it. He sent the Hack hurdling into the Galbo.

The gang passed some bouncing Cairn creatures that fell prey to Kirby's icy breath; clearly Kirby was having a bit of fun with this newfound _single_ ability. Approaching the chasm, the trek became a jumping game when having to jump from cliff to cliff.

"I feel like I'm back on Pop Star with seeing weird things like purple, red, or green cliffs," Waddle called to Kirby as he landed on top of another Cairn, taking out its three rocks.

"Well, Pop Star _is_ known for being…dare I say it…out of this world?" Kirby laughed as he suddenly sidestepped to avoid being burned by a Bobo that was running back and forth. Who'd think that a Bobo, that spent its entire life aflame, would have something to complain about?

Dedede brought the Bobo to a halt when he crushed it with his hammer. He then looked to Kirby.

"That was a _really_ bad joke you just said there, Kirby."

Pteran pterodactyls flew in from above, hindering the troop's progress, as well as chasms that seemed to get wider and wider. Dedede felt something sticky and gooey fall onto his royal coat and was about to complain, only for Waddle to push him on, as the little platforms they were jumping from instantly fell towards the earth a split second after landing on them.

"Dedede…keep GOING…" Waddle urged as they were soon balancing themselves on _tiny_ poles that somehow stretched all the way up to the skies.

King Dedede obliged and eventually landed on solid ground, now ready to explode.

"DID THAT BIRD MAKE ON ME?!" He exclaimed.

Ribbon observed the foreign goo and just _had_ to laugh.

"I wouldn't know…your sticky majesty, I've never seen the…leavings of Pteran pterodactyls on Ripple Star, so therefore--"

"THEREFORE," Dedede interrupted, "IT MARKED ITS TERRITORY ON MY COAT!!!"

"Could you guys keep it down? I'm trying to put the finishing touches on my hat."

Surely enough, in an isolated zone of the mountains, Adeleine was staring hard at a very detailed hat she had managed to paint in such a short amount of time. She didn't like it, however, when she heard Dedede's wails throwing off her concentration.

Ribbon approached the painter slowly and took her ear ever so slightly, causing her to shriek in surprise.

"Um…_why_ did you feel it necessary to break away from the group…JUST TO PAINT?!"

Unlike all other times Adeleine was under the cruel hand of the fairy from Ripple Star, she smiled. The painter pointed to her right to a special area that she said held a special surprise if the others could decode it.

Kirby walked over to the large assortment of perfectly positioned and _stacked together_ star blocks. He was about to freeze them all when he stopped in mid jump. He then had to think this out and remember why these blocks would be placed here out of all places?

Then he remembered: the last time Adeleine had done something like this in an awkward location, it was on Rock Star with those paintings of the fish, tree, and sun- all of which were images found in switches Kirby stepped on in order to find a Crystal Shard fragment. This _had_ to be yet another puzzle. Now confident in what to do, Kirby looked to his right.

"Waddle, take a mental picture of that hat."

Catching on, the two puffballs began _carefully_ breaking various blocks, being cautious not to shatter any ones that did would not coincide with what the hat looked like.

After a good seven minutes had passed, Kirby had shattered another block when Ribbon was suddenly blinded by a brilliant flash. In the empty center materialized a Crystal Shard fragment that she quickly snatched.

As Adeleine gathered her supplies, Ribbon couldn't help but be a bit skeptical.

"Um, Adeleine…how did you know--"

"Trust me; after Rock Star, I can figure out where and when the shards will show up."

Kirby rolled his eyes and walked on. "If that's the case," he muttered, "why didn't you say something _after_ we got off of Rock Star?"

A Mahall: peachy blobs with green tops that popped out of the ground and blew bubbles at their enemies, popped out the ground, but it was ignored. Kirby stepped on the Mahall and didn't even notice it.

"What's the deal?" Waddle called as he jumped to the cliff Kirby was standing on. "We're high up in the sky, and it's almost like they _want_ us to fall."

"Why else would they place these platforms so far apart?" Adeleine pitched in as she jumped off of the floating platform just in time as it fell towards the clouds.

Dedede grunted as he jumped onto the green cliff and smashed a Hack before it could charge. "If you ask me, we're headed _ALL_ the way down if they wanted us to go up so high."

They began ascending up the purple, red, and green cliffs, cautiously avoiding the sleeping Galbo, but having to push the singing Chacha off of the mountain and towards certain doom.

"Oh, _bloody_ no," Adeleine groaned as she slapped her forehead in frustration. Before them was a set of platforms, _floating_ platforms that looked like they wouldn't support a lot of weight if even Kirby set foot on them. Luckily, fluttering up and down between the platforms were some Bronto Burt birds: pink looking bowling balls with eye and wings.

Kirby and Waddle each grabbed onto a Bronto Burt. The birds at first put up somewhat of a fight in order to get the puffballs off of them, but after realizing that slowing down would cause _all_ of them to fall towards the ground, they flapped their wings like their was no tomorrow; steadily ascending towards the pink cliffs with the obscure looking green structure with holes carved into it.

"How…about…now?" Dedede yelled as he rapidly hopped from one platform to the next…with Adeleine on his back. The king could hear the platforms shaking and then plummeting towards the earth.

"Just a few more steps," Adeleine responded as she held onto the king's coat, occasionally making sure she hadn't gotten her hand covered in any Pteran stuff.

When everyone landed, Kirby and Waddle began scaling the platforms next to the green structure, careful to avoid the Fishbone that was firing its scales at them.

Adeleine landed on top of the mountain and looked off into the distance with a telescope she painted; there was not much more sky to cover, but the jumps looked as if they would only get wider and wider.

"Come on, then" Kirby proudly said to the gang as he walked onward, completely ignoring the teetering platform he was about to step on.

Ribbon raised an eyebrow when she saw the familiar weak platform and shouted. "Wait…Kirby LOOK OUT!!"

TOO LATE!!!

The instant Kirby's foot hit the platform, it fell downwards, but remember: Kirby could always float in midair, and when he did, he was clutching something he hadn't been holding when he went down.

"Why would a shard be hidden in such an obscure place?" Adeleine asked as she scratched her hat in confusion.

No one could explain exactly _how_ bouncing Kacti cactus had made it from Rock Star all the way to Neo Star, but it didn't matter right now. They were mere obstacles that only hindered the gang's process. They probably would've preferred the hot, blazing sun of Rock Star than being frozen for all eternity under Kirby's ice powers.

Another long set of winding, far apart platforms now lay before them. As before, Kirby and Waddle Dee made use of the Bronto Burts, but…the flight over such high altitude took a toll on the pink puffball.

Kirby moaned and used his free hand to rub his gigantic stomach. "I'm hungry; being up so high makes me wish I was on a plane with in flight dinner."

"Kirby, you've never even _seen_ a real life plane before," Waddle said to him as they landed on a very large "K."

Ribbon landed next to the two puffballs, while Dedede had to take even **_LONGER_** jumps across the large gaps with Adeleine in tow.

"Well, this seems pretty simple for the end," Kirby said cheerfully as he jumped from one large unfamiliar shaped rock to the next. None of them noticed that the maroon rock was a "K" shape that the bright red rock was an "I" shape, the purplish one was an "R," the black one a "B," and the "Y" green. No one noticed the strange rocks spelled out Kirby…who would've thought?

After avoiding the swarm of Bronto Burt birds, the gang found themselves in a clearing.

"Wow," Adeleine exclaimed as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, "seems like Neo Star doesn't stop with the craziness if you ask me."

"We're _not_ asking you!"

As you'd expect, Dedede and Adeleine got into a shouting match that soon turned physical.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE STRONG ONE!!" Adeleine spat.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE STUPID ONE!!" Dedede yelled back.

"STRONG ONE!!"

"STUPID ONE!!"

"STRONG ONE!!!"

"STRONG **THIS**!"

Dedede punctuated that last word with a powerful shove that the painter near a cliff. The fight stopped when the shard began reacting wildly.

Ribbon flew before the gang, clutching the shard. "It's as if…it's being directed…towards…under us?"

The source of the shard's agitation was the dormant volcano nearby.

"You're kidding, right?"

"It's the only way," Ribbon explained, "now everyone get close to me. If the volcano is not dormant and we run the risk of being burned, we'll be protected by the shard's magic, which has enough energy to protect us from flames.

In a flash, everyone was surrounded by brilliant energy that formed a barrier around them. The barrier flew towards and in the volcano.

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Mere minutes later, Kirby tossed and turned, awaking as he unexpectedly slapped Ribbon in the forehead. He looked around and saw that he was _not_ on top of the world, metaphorically speaking, but within the confines of Neo Star's volcanoes. Magma and lava swirled everywhere and it was incredibly hot. This wasn't Pop Star anymore and somewhere within here lie the final shards of Neo Star.


	19. Volcanic Crystal Shards

**Phazon:** The volcano: one of my favorite levels of Kirby 64, I've finally arrived at you in the story. Most of you will find this familiar if you've played the game, and the others…well, you won't. This did take a long time to update, I'll admit, but let's overlook that and just get to the chapter, shall we?

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

---------------------------------------

**Volcanic Crystal Shards**

The hot boiling lava, the endless caves, the molten rock constantly falling from above- clearly, when you're in the midst of an unstable volcano on Neo Star, you're bound to be hot, and not the good kind of hot, either.

"I think I've got some charcoal on my butt."

Clearly the words of little naïve Adeleine, who felt around and caught a huge lump of charcoal on her skirt. After brushing it off, the painter stood to her feet, but she nearly fell back down when she saw the immense innards of the volcano.

"Erm…you're telling me that the last few shards are…somewhere in _this_ hellhole?"

Ribbon nodded, but not before lightly slapping Adeleine and reminding her to watch her language.

Kirby went over to the red puffball, who was still knocked out, but definitely in the _wrong_ place.

"You picked a bad place for a nap, Waddle!!"

That place was right on top of a mini volcano that was constantly spewing out boiling lava. When Waddle finally awoke, he screamed at the top of his lungs, running out and dragging his body across the hard gravel in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

"Well, those shards aren't gonna find themselves," Kirby concluded as the group began trekking across the broken rocky pathways.

Whenever the pathways broke off, a stream of lava separated them, and then there was the never ending barrage of molten rocks falling from above them.

"Say, Adeleine," Dedede called as he jumped across another gap, "couldn't you just paint us some portable fans or ice or _something_ that'll cool us down? Come on! You can pain anything!"

Adeleine felt a bit conceited, yet peeved at the same time. She was more peeved, though.

"What am I, the personal artist of the group?"

"…yes," Dedede replied slowly, tilting his head to one side.

"Well, tough cookies to that! I don't just paint on command and I need to have a certain _inspiration_ for whatever it is that I'm working on, not the first idea that pops into my head."

Dedede whirled around and picked Adeleine up, holding her so she was facing him completely.

"You painted that stupid radio to play music when we were waiting for Kirby, when you know good and well that there is no reception or feedback all the way out on Aqua Star."

Adeleine knew he was right, but she stood defiant, mostly because she didn't want to be thrown into that there lava.

Dedede smiled, he knew how to make the artist crack.

"Oh, Riiiiiiiibon!!"

Ribbon was further ahead with Kirby and Waddle, but she was still within earshot as she whipped around.

"Is there a problem, Dedede?"

A smile made its way across the king's face as he looked back to the stunned artist.

"Well…is there a problem?"

Smiling weakly, Adeleine assured them that there was _no_ problem indeed.

Mere seconds later, Dedede was cooling himself (if you could even do that while in a volcano) with a mini-fan, Adeleine scowling quietly behind him.

When Kirby jumped across the last chasm, he saw that a molten rock was about to crush Waddle Dee. Choosing not to call out to him, Kirby inhaled, then let out a huge puff of ice that completely froze the rock in a block of ice.

"Thanks, Kirby," Waddle called as he walked up the pathway to the cavern exit.

"I say," Ribbon commented as she flew alongside Kirby, "you couldn't have picked a better time to keep that ice power."

Walking into the next cavern, Waddle immediately stepped to the side in order to avoid the ablaze Bobo, which soon fell flat under Dedede's hammer.

"I'll never understand why they're running around in _here_ of all places," Kirby said, "I mean, it's a volcano; they should be happy here."

Adeleine wiped some sweat from her forehead and stepped near the edge of the pathway when, suddenly, it began to move forward on its own.

"Ad," Waddle called, "what are you doing?!"

"Don't ask me; it moved by itself!!"

As Adeleine started moving back and forth on the moving platform, she looked above and saw a pair of Burnis birds: birds that were made of fire and would drop steaming boulders on their enemies. When absorbed, Kirby would gain the fire ability.

"Alley…OOP!!" Kirby shouted as he jumped from his position and landed alongside Adeleine. Ribbon only had to fly, while Waddle and Dedede made their way across by hopping across the skinny platforms.

The Burnis pair swooped down in an attempt to peck at Ribbon and Adeleine, yet they meet extreme cold when Kirby jumped before them and let out a puff of ice, freezing them instantly.

Waddle jumped across the skinny platforms and landed on the other side, but when Dedede went for the jump, his robe suddenly caught fire when a Magoo: black fireballs with mean yellow eyes, popped out of the everlasting lava and brushed the robe. Needless to say, the king was in agony, even though the fire wasn't touching his _body_.

"PUT IT OUT, **PUT…IT…OUT**!!!"

"Hold STILL," Waddle shot back as he tried desperately to extinguish the flame. This proved impossible, as Dedede kept moving back and forth, running blindly into a pit where he was submerged.

"That ain't good," Adeleine said, but she retracted that statement when Dedede emerged, looking like a roasted duck.

Kirby stepped forward, took in a big breath, and silenced Dedede by freezing him solid.

"That should do it."

Waddle took the job of carrying Dedede as he and the others continued jumping across the skinny platforms, trying greatly to avoid catching fire by the Magoo creatures that were constantly popping out of the lava, while at the same time, contending with the Burnis birds from above.

Landing on safe ground…for now, Adeleine saw a pair of Galbo creatures on the ascending platforms. She hit the dirt when one opened its mouth and let out a powerful breath of fire that would've torched her.

Inspiration came to the pink puffball as he stood on his feet.

"Kirby!" Ribbon exclaimed. "What are you trying to pull?!"

"Just watch me," he assured her, "this is kind of risky, but I'm sure it'll work."

Kirby jumped forward and to the side before the Galbo could catch him, took in a breath, and immobilized the Galbo creature. He wasn't done there, as he picked up the Galbo, jumped to the next platform, and threw the frozen Galbo into the living one, obliterating them both.

"Gutsy move," Waddle called as he made his way to the platform Kirby was standing on. Once Adeleine and Ribbon arrived as well, the platform began to move forward, but at the same time, the platform opposite it was moving towards them.

"They're converging," Adeleine concluded.

Once the platforms met, the gang got on the opposite platform that brought them to the other side. Once Waddle had dispatched of the rookie Pompey, they descended down the platforms and into the next cavern.

And boy, was this cavern ever so spacious and wide. The chasms were even wider and lava was flowing from every direction. The hollow cave stretched for quite some distance.

"I figure there's a shard here somewhere," Ribbon said to the others as the Crystal Shard began to glow.

"Well, clearly this is where I make my contribution."

The others were surprised that Dedede had thawed as quickly as he did, but, hey, they _were_ in a volcano, so what'd you expect?

"Kirby, you get on my back. Waddle, you lead the way and get rid of the obstacles ahead of us." He then looked to Adeleine and Ribbon. "You two just try and keep up with me."

Waddle jumped high into the air, grabbing the first Burnis bird and throwing it into the one further ahead. Dedede jumped across the first lava river and began trudging up the long incline. He stopped when the huge stone pillar blocked his way and then took out his hammer.

"Well, guess it's time to show off my strength."

"Er…Dedede, you know you _could_ just walk _around_ the pillar," Waddle suggested.

"Yeah, but that'd take all the fun out of it."

Winding up for the strike, Dedede twirled the hammer around before bringing it down, crushing the pillar completely. He then cleared away any clutter or debris as Adeleine and Ribbon walked by. They all descended the incline and Waddle was prepared to jump across when a Magoo shot out of the lava, making him stop. Up above, Waddle saw that a Burnis was busily flying when he got an idea.

"Kirby, do me a favor and freeze this here Magoo."

Departing from Dedede for a quick second, Kirby shot out his icy breath and froze the Magoo before it could sink back into the lava. Waddle jumped onto the block and catapulted himself into the air, bringing his would be fists down upon the Burnis and sending it sailing towards the lava. As such, the gang jumped across the chasm where Dedede obliterated yet another pillar…once again refusing Waddle's simple choice to walk _around_ the pillar.

As Dedede descended the incline, Kirby got on top of the king's head and froze three Bo creatures: mysterious black balls with white eyes that did…well, nothing except float there. He landed back on top of Dedede and saw that Adeleine and Waddle were already jumping across the skinny columns that were protruding out of the lava. The two of them plus Ribbon followed suit.

The area was beginning to get a bit cramped, but not really. The columns were now very skinny and it only took Dedede one swing to get rid of them, as well as a Galbo that just wouldn't budge. Dedede smashed through pillar after pillar until he shoved the hammer into one…and it got stuck.

"What the--" Dedede stammered as he tried greatly to remove the hammer from the pillar until Ribbon flew over to it, gave it the _slightest _tug, and it came out, hitting the king right in the face.

Adeleine couldn't help but suppress her laughter, as she knew that laughing out loud at other's misfortunes would resort in her bottom becoming sore.

"All right you columns, look out!!"

Dedede charged forward in an attempt to burst through this column and what he assumed would be the next, but when he destroyed the first one, Kirby had to literally force Dedede to stop when his feet nearly touched the hot lava before him.

"See?" Kirby muttered. "What would you do without us? We're gonna have to hop across those short little platforms.

As Dedede hopped across the first platform, he brought his hammer high up into the air and was determined to lay on the pain to this pillar before him. When he did that, the pillar was destroyed, but they discovered that within it was a Crystal Shard fragment.

"Now _that's_ thinking with brute force!" Ribbon chimed in as she grabbed the jewel.

The gang jumped across some more tiny platforms, having to be even _more_ careful, as the Magoo creatures were just shooting out of the lava whenever they pleased. When at last they reached the other side of the huge cavern, they let out a sigh of relief as they walked through the exit shaft.

Kirby was the last one to exit the shaft when he noticed it slammed shut behind him. There was no way to bust it down.

"Well, good thing we got that shard before we left," he said.

The pathway before them was littered with creatures and critters, ranging from Cairn creatures to Bobos and even angry Galbos. As Adeleine warily walked under the constantly moving Gordo creatures, a giant bubble suddenly exploded in the lava next to her.

"Cool!" She squealed, but then some of the molten rock landed in her shirt. "**NOT COOL!!!"**

The painter sprinted forward, jumping across the pathways and trying desperately to shake out the piece of molten rock when she tripped on a jagged edge of the platform, shooting herself into the air and sending her downward where she was now hanging on one of the ledges.

"**HEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPPP!!!"**

Ribbon snorted as she looked back to the other three.

"Can I _please_ do it? Even though it wasn't intentional, she should've stood still so we could get it out for her?"

Dedede took off his coat for a second to get some of the sweat out of it. "Ribbon, as much as I'd love to see Adeleine crying while you administer some swift punishment…again, this isn't the time. We're in a _volcano_--"

"With liquid hot magma--," Waddle added.

"And it's hot to boot!" Kirby finished.

Ribbon felt like pouting, but Queen Gretchen of Ripple Star had taught her better than that. Adeleine's spanking would have to wait. Sighing, she flew into the air and saw Adeleine hanging by her hands on one of the platforms. She motioned for the others to help her up, and when they did, Adeleine was surprisingly…silent.

"Heh…it fell out when I was hanging right there. Thanks for the save, you guys."

Kirby playfully punched Adeleine on the side. "That's why we're a team, after all."

The show of emotion was quickly stopped when a Spark creature activated its electric barrier and Kirby received an electric shock, launching him high into the air as he made something that sounded like a mix between a yelp and a cry.

The Sparky creature quietly laughed and began hopping away until Adeleine walked over and simply stepped on the buggy eyed thingy.

Continuing down the pathways, Kirby looked to his left and saw some menacing looking Bronto Burts in the background, just…waiting…waiting ever so still. Kirby sighed; he had seen this exact same scenario before when he was on Rock Star, and this situation was no different. The only change was the location, but Kirby's plan was the same different as well. When he ran past the space where the birds would have come past, he quickly turned around and froze them solid, each and every one of them. Dedede was whizzing by with his hammer to finish the job by obliterating the frozen birds.

Waddle led the way as he pounced on the Magoo creatures that were jumping out of the inferno. He captained the crew across the rocky podiums and stopped when he crushed the Galbo under his feet.

Ribbon looked on with a bit of surprise as she saw the streams of lava coming from the wall.

"Well, it _is_ a volcano, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was lava coming out of the snow."

No one acknowledged Adeleine's comment as they warily maneuvered themselves around the lava streams and across the skinny platforms before they headed into the next room…which looked virtually empty save for the Bobos who were dancing to the beat of the hula skirt wearing Chacha creature that was swinging its maracas rhythmically. There appeared to be nothing of interest in the room…that is, until the Crystal Shard began reacting wildly to the strange red and brown mound in the center of the room.

Kirby went up and tapped the strange mound. "Maybe something's in there? IS SOMETHING INSIDE OF THERE?!?!?!" He punctuated each of those words with a breath of icy goodness and when the mist had cleared, there was a shard fragment.

"Those color coded shards don't exactly add up all of the time if we're in a _volcano_ and this red and black mound was shattered by _ice_," Dedede pointed out.

The next room was a lot bigger than the last, but the gang had to walk steadily on this rickety pathway. Adeleine looked to her right and saw that there was a huge lava bubble protruding from the wall that looked like it would erupt at any second.

"Um…you guys?" She asked, tapping Waddle's shoulder.

"Complain later, Adeleine," Kirby called as he discarded the snowy power up and went for a Poppy Brother creature, giving the single bomb power up.

The wall behind them began to rumble and Adeleine began to sweat even more due to nervousness.

"YOU GUYS!!"

"**WHAT?!?!"** They all answered, turning around with fire in their eyes. That same fire in their eyes quickly turned to ice when the wall burst and lava came rushing out like a great flood.

"RUN FOR YOUR NO GOOD LIFE!!!" Adeleine hollered as she and the others ran as fast as they could down the pathways, over the hurdles, past the annoying Burnis birds.

Unfortunately, Kirby's eyes spotted a delectable piece of strawberry cake.

"Ooh, come to Kirby, my pretty," he muttered as he began to drool, only to be dragged forcibly by Ribbon.

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR FOOD, KIRBY!!"

"BUT…BUT…**THE CAKE GOODNESS**!!"

Kirby's screams were drowned out by the oncoming surge of lava coming their way.

They all entered the room and were glad when the shaft shut behind them, but something was wrong: that annoying rumbling noise hadn't gone away.

Adeleine looked over the edge of the pathway and saw that the lava was steadily…rising?

"IT'S COMING UP NOW!"

"Up?" Kirby inquired. He looked up and saw a series of floating platforms they could use to get out.

"But we haven't found the last shards inside the volcano," Ribbon protested.

Waddle jumped to the first platform, then the next. "We'll work that out later, Ribbon! What we need to focus on right now is getting the _current_ Shard out of here intact!"

Safety came first as the gang began traversing up the floating platforms, batting away the annoying flying Bonehead creatures in the process. As Ribbon ascended, however, she saw something glowing in the distance.

"There's a fragment right there!" She yelled as she pointed to their right.

Kirby jumped up and began floating towards the platform. He grabbed the fragment, getting rid of the pestering Sandman creature in the process. He made his way back to the gang, but not before taking the chance to combine the bomb elemental crystal with the hopping Kacti. He would have to find out what Bomb and Needle would give him later.

The cavern began to get even narrower and cramped, though the platforms were easier to climb. Dedede crushed the star blocks that were obstructing their view and a smile formed on his face when he saw the hole at the top. Needless to say they all jumped into the shaft.

…but they weren't in the clear yet, as they were still in the volcano. The only good thing was that there was no surge of lava chasing them, but this area seemed to be…empty. Because they were still in the volcano, they couldn't understand what needed to be done.

"Technically," Waddle chimed in, "we're probably still missing _a_ shard."

_Rumble_

"What was that?" Adeleine said as she began walking around. They were on solid ground, but before them was a near endless ocean of lava that had only four lonely platforms. Suddenly, something big and blobby and _ugly_ began coming out of the lava. It looked like a giant lava bubble, but this one had empty black eyes and an even emptier black mouth. It looked towards the troop and growled wrathfully.

"**GIIIIIVE MEEEE THE SHAAAAARRRRDDDDD!!!!!"**

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**Phazon:** While the fourth level of Neo Star is one of my favorites, I'd forgotten about how long it was, as well. Ah well, hope you enjoyed the chapter and that I didn't put you to sleep if you thought it was boring. Next up is the battle between the gang and the boss of Neo Star, whose name will be given in the next chapter for those who don't know. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	20. Liquid Hot Magman

**Phazon:** We have finally arrived at the end of Neo Star. I've always enjoyed this boss battle and I'm hoping to expand on it as much as possible without making people get uninterested, but nothing is certain. Enjoy the chapter.

And…to Master Lumine Omega: Chill out. Nothing happened to her in the chapter that involved that, and 'bondage boy?' If that's an insult that you come up with based on how you feel about a fan fiction…based on a video game…then I'm at a loss for words for you.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

------------------------------------------

**Liquid Hot Magman**

Kirby stood firmly on the rickety platform as he waited for the oozing lava blob creature to attack after it had threatened to steal the shards from him. The pink puffball surveyed his surroundings, seeing if he could gain any advantage over the creature.

"Well, it's a given that these platforms aren't going to move by themselves," he muttered, "and as long as he remains far in the back, I can't reach him from the foreground. If only a-"

The puffball's sentence was never finished; the lava creature suddenly shot up near the magma ceiling before bringing itself down into the lava with a crash. As a result, three lava tentacles were surging forward; one of them towards the very same platform Kirby was standing on.

"Great," he sighed as he began puffing into the air to the platform not in danger of being attacked; "now I have to jump for my life."

When Kirby reached the platform, he looked over and saw the three free platforms suddenly engulfed by lava tentacles. They remained stationary for some time with the occasional spurts of fire bouncing off and landing on the platform. Kirby figured that the longer he dawdled, judging from how sticky the platform was becoming, the fight would become virtually impossible to finish and he'd probably collapse from heat exhaustion than perishing at the hands…erm…_tentacles_, of this beast.

"Transform!" Kirby yelled as he jumped into the air and experimented with the bomb and needle combination. Suddenly, his body began to morph, mold, and shape until it became the perfect copy of a Gordo: the black ball creatures with spikes protruding from every angle. The problem is that Kirby's movement was no where near that of a Gordo; not to say that Gordos moved very fast to begin with.

Though it was far in the background, the lava creature took note of the little puffball's change of appearance and began to call its tentacles back to the sea of lava.

Kirby inwardly swore as he saw the pillars beginning to descend into the lava. Realizing that he had missed an opportunity for an attack and systematically prolonging his battle, he grew angry and just had to burst!

And that's just what happened: the spikes on Kirby's body suddenly shot out in various directions; one of them nailing the tentacle at the far left just as it descended completely and revealed the platform. The creature wailed and moaned in agony at being attacked. This only added to the monster's rage as it began thrashing about in the lava, causing bits and chunks of rock to fall from the ceiling.

None of them connected with Kirby, who was taking the time to catch his breath and regain some of his strength while the creature wasn't attacking. He took a quick glance at his team, who was anxiously waiting on the sidelines for the battle to come to an end. The momentary peace ended as Kirby felt a violent vibration.

Behind the pink puffball, a lava tentacle rose from the everlasting river. It wasn't until Kirby saw the tentacle's shadow did he jump to the next platform, nearly avoiding the tentacle crashing down on him when it bent over on the platform. Because the process was so quick, Kirby didn't have time to score any more hits. He got his chance, however, when he moved back to the center platform and another tentacle rose out of the molten liquid.

As it bent over in the opposite direction, Kirby jumped into the air and became an imitation Gordo once again. He was able to detonate quickly enough and sent two needles straight into the magma tentacle before it could retreat completely.

Once again, the magma monster groaned in pain as it felt its life force leaving it. Still, there were a few trump cards left to be played.

The creature expanded vertically and came crashing down in the lava, but this time, only one lava tentacle emerged. The exception is that it was coming at a _much_ faster rate than before and the tentacle, once under the platform, shot it towards the ceiling where the would-be occupant would end up getting burned.

"Time to end this battle already!" Kirby concluded as he came up with a plan. There was free space between the platforms that the tentacles couldn't reach; this would be where he launched his attack.

Kirby jumped into the air and transformed just as a tentacle launched the platform he was standing on into the ceiling. The platform shattered from the excessive force, but the tentacle soon felt pain itself when Kirby's transformed form detonated, sending spikes in its direction. When the other two tentacles emerged, Kirby repeated the process until all of the tentacles suddenly retreated to the lava with a bang.

Looking to his left, Kirby saw that the lava creature had vanished, but felt the vibrations getting worse. Taking a quick glance behind him, Kirby's eyes widened upon seeing the very same beast now before him. It let out a loud, vocal, exaggerated yell and began to give chase.

Waddle's eyes darted in Kirby's direction and he stood on her feet. "Wait, don't come this way!"

Too late; Kirby was on solid ground once again and the creature followed him. For seconds, the huge lava blob with black eyes remained stationary and Kirby was just about to attack when he saw the creature begin to inhale a _great_ amount of hot air. Kirby jumped a bit too close to the creature and ducked as a heavy stream of fire suddenly protruded from the beast's mouth. The fiery stream went in all directions, taking nice care of the ceiling fixtures that looked better in a shade of charcoal and soot.

Kirby wasn't quick enough to dodge the few rocks that landed on his head. He looked and saw that the stream of fire had subsided and was ready to make his move when the beast suddenly began to decrease in size until it became…

"A puddle?" Adeleine asked, scratching her head.

A puddle of lava, indeed. What was stranger was the puddle of bubbling lava began to move at a very quick rate across the terrain. Once it reached the other side, the violent vibrations continued once again, but now Burnis birds were spewing forth from the lava pool. Discarding his combo, Kirby grabbed two rogue birds and created the double fire elemental crystal. Once the lava creature reformed, the pink puffball became a rocketing fireball that surged into the beast's body until it moaned in the utmost distaste. The monstrosity banged its top against the ceiling and caused a large amount of rocks to fall suddenly. None made their mark, but it was enough to keep this star warrior from executing what could be the final blow.

Kirby stood on one end trying to get his thoughts back together and catch his breath. The heat was starting to get to him, as he _had_ been breathing hot air in for the past seven minutes. His lungs were slowly filling with hot air and if he wanted to live to rescue Ripple Star from darkness, he had to get out of _Neo Star_ alive, first.

The lava creature, on the other hand, appeared powerful based on its external features, but it was just a giant blob of lava that had little threat to it _if_ one could figure out its patterns. It began to spit up blobs of lava violently, since that was what it fed off of, but because it was no longer in lava anymore, but on solid ground, it had no external source to feed off of. As a result, any lava used from hereon would be it- it wouldn't come back.

The creature inhaled with all of its might and prepared to give this puffball a fiery scorching it would never forget. It hoped that it could suck up the pink bowling ball with feet in the process, but Kirby held his ground by planting his feet in the terrain.

Kirby jumped into the air and shot forward, his body becoming a furious, mighty fireball. Before the lava creature could spew out its fiery breath, something shot in its mouth before it noticed. It soughed and moaned gravely from this entity and before it had noticed, its stomach was suddenly rumbling ferociously.

On the sidelines, Dedede clicked his tongue. "Gotta admire that kid, he's got guts for trying that."

Suddenly, the beast's stomach burst wide open and Kirby shot forward, still in his fireball form. He'd been able to retain the fireball shape the entire time as he launched out of the beast's mouth, clutching a very shiny object in his hand. The beast bellowed and yelled, warbling around as it began spurting lava from any orifice it had.

At long last, there was a final explosion that took place as the beast's life came to a dramatic close. Whatever was left of it faded into the terrain.

Ribbon quickly flew to Kirby's side as she eyed the brilliant, marvelous Crystal Shard that had been rescued from the bowels of the beast.

"Kirby!," she exclaimed, "I can't believe you held that form for so long! How did you do it?"

"Well," Kirby explained, "his insides were mostly fire anyway, and I just had to keep pushing unless I wanted to get burned."

"Enough with the chit-chat," Dedede said as he saw a pathway leading to an exit shaft, "let's get out of here while the getting's good, got it?"

Got it.

--------------------------------------------------

Back in the mountains above the clouds, Kirby and his entourage stared anxiously at the shard, wondering when it would reveal their next location. Before that happened, however, there was a violent rumbling.

Adeleine stumbled into Dedede and nearly dropped her messy easel. "You guys, the volcano's erupting!!"

"I guess that since that magma creature is gone, the volcano has become unstable and will just keep erupting until it becomes dormant again," Waddle concluded.

The normal blue sky became an evil blackish-red as great balls of fire and ash began raining down upon the heroes. Not knowing what to do since the shard hadn't revealed anything, they simply ran forward in an attempt to find safe ground.

As they ran, the shard flew before them and began flashing profoundly. The shard slowly morphed into a star that showed an image of the next planet. Ribbon quickly flew into the star first, followed by Dedede. He poked back out of the star to help the screaming and wailing Adeleine.

Kirby followed suit and jumped after the artist, leaving poor little Waddle, who still hadn't caught up.

"WAIT!!!" He shrieked. "YOU GUYS CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE WITH THE PLANET!!!"

Kirby stuck his head out and saw that the road Waddle was traveling on would soon come to an end, meaning he would go up in flames, unless…

_Well_, he thought to himself, shrugging, _it's worth a shot_.

The pink puffball took a deep breath, getting Waddle Dee stuck in his mouth in the process. Luckily, Kirby was able to secure Waddle in his mouth and retreat back into the star before the sector of Neo Star that they were on went down in flames.

The star reverted back to its Crystal Shard form and shot into the stratosphere, away from Neo Star and towards the next planet.

------------------------------------------

Within the safe haven of the Crystal Shard, Ribbon winched as she heard the compelling explosion coming from the area of Neo Star they were on. Apparently, it had been destroyed due to the destructive force of the erupting volcanoes, but thankfully, it hadn't spread to the entire planet.

She let out a quiet sigh as she lay her head against the sleeping Kirby as they headed towards their next location: Shiver Star.

_Just one more planet_, she thought to herself, _one more planet…before I return to my home._

Soon enough, she fell asleep just like the others as the mystical Crystal Shard protected them in the far galaxy.

------------------------------------------

**Phazon:** This has always been one of my favorite boss battles and sequences in general. I know, technically, once you defeated Magman and were preparing to go to Shiver Star, all that happened was that volcanoes erupted and that was it. Nothing serious took place, but in here, I'm making it seem as if that section of the planet was destroyed as a result of the uncontrollable eruptions. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next time when the gang begins the quest for Crystal Shards…on Shiver Star.


	21. Ceaseless Wintry Weather

**Phazon:** Shiver Star, one of the more interesting levels of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. The levels are quite detailed and very long, but I can still pull it off with no problem. Anyway, let's get right to it.

_Disclaimer_: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

-------------------------------------

**Ceaseless Wintry Weather**

"BRRRRRR!!" Adeleine shivered as she tried holding the makeshift jacket she had painted closer to her body. "It's freezing here! We c-could use an erupting volcano right about now."

Ribbon groaned in pure detestation, but Adeleine had a point. Shiver Star was the complete opposite of Neo Star's volcanic regions, but when she and Kirby vowed to help save Ripple Star no matter what, they knew there would be hardships.

But this was just ridiculous.

"Oh, lighten up, you guys," Kirby called as he formed a snowball and tossed it at a Poppy Brother before it could throw its bomb, "it could be worse."

Dedede unintentionally slipped on the glacial ice, but he was still able to glare at the pink puffball.

"How could it POSSIBLY be worse?!"

Kirby shrugged. "I don't know, but it just could."

They really had no right to complain. Shiver Star was known for its frigid weather, so this should not have been anything new. It would just take some adjustment. Snow was everywhere, though there were a few patches of somewhat solid ground that the gang made use of.

As Kirby walked along and stomped on the Punc that was rolling his way, he pulled back when a bright blue block of ice suddenly shattered on the ground before him.

The block fell from the bird that was fluttering above Kirby. When it attempted a takedown, Kirby obliterated it with the phoenix shot fireball attack. He was lucky to have saved the double fire elemental crystal instead of parting with it.

"I completely forgot about the Frigis," Waddle said as he walked alongside Kirby, "they're birds that are completely made of ice and have black eyes and orange beaks. They'll try and drop those ice blocks on you, but if they fail, they may try and swoop down on you."

Ribbon wiped some of the snow off of her wings before flying to Waddle's side. "So it's basically the opposite of a Burnis bird?"

Waddle nodded.

The snowy pathways seemed interminable, but no one complained about it anymore, at least, not as much as they used to. Upon reaching some floating platforms, Kirby brought the group to a halt.

Adeleine, who had been covering her eyes with her jacket, didn't notice and bumped into Waddle. She lifted up her jacket and saw Kirby had paused.

"What's going on, you guys? Why'd we stop?"

"Look ahead."

Before them were two Bobo creatures: the same walking fireball creatures from everywhere else.

"If we wanted to get through here quicker, we'd all have to be able to use fire elemental powers," Kirby concluded before firing through the two enemies.

"Yeah, but we all can't float around and turn into shooting fireballs, Kirby," Waddle replied.

Good point.

The paths began to ascend, which was bad, considering everyone was closer to the Frigis birds. Dedede was able to jump up and take them out, but he had to avoid touching them for fear of getting frozen.

As they ascended up the snowy hills, two Chilly creatures: snowmen that would create ice barriers around themselves, began shooting off ice in every direction. They soon met fire when Kirby blasted right through them, and it was the same fate for the desperate little Emp: little penguins that ran away instead of fighting. They contained the ice ability as well, but Kirby didn't need it.

Suddenly, Adeleine shrieked when two Mite moles popped out of the ground, but they didn't attack her- they simply began accumulating huge piles of snow, possibly to create a snowman.

"Hey!" Adeleine whooped as her child instinct took over. "Maybe we could make a giant snowman!"

Dedede stood there transfixed, not even caring about the snow that began falling even faster, as he saw the painter run off and begin bringing clumps of snow together with the protection of gloves she had painted.

"Adeleine!" Waddle called from afar as he and the others began to slowly move forward, save for Ribbon. "We didn't come to Shiver Star to make snowmen!"

"We didn't go to Neo Star to nearly get melted by a volcano, but we did it anyway!" Adeleine shot back.

Sighing, Ribbon began flying forward, but her flight came to a halt when someone was tugging at her sweater.

"Not this time," Dedede said as he let go of Ribbon's sweater, "the girl just wants to fool around. Not surprising since we really haven't had that much fun since, well, Aqua Star."

"Nonetheless," Waddle added as he looked to his right to see Kirby clearing the pathway of ice enemies, "if we don't keep moving, the weather will get to her."

Against her will, Adeleine was carted off by Dedede, but her tirade of complaints stopped when she was placed within the safety of his royal coat.

The pathway was clear thanks to Kirby, but everyone couldn't help but notice the strange snowflake patterns that appeared to be carved into the ground.

"Look at that," Ribbon muttered as she observed one, "and the snow doesn't even cover it up."

"Apparently, someone's been busy before we were here," Dedede deduced as they walked on into the next area.

The snow had fallen so quickly and heavily that hills had been formed, but this didn't explain the large structure before them.

"I wonder who built this," Dedede inquired.

"Probably no one," Kirby responded as he began climbing the slippery ladders, "but my guess is that this place used to be all earth until it started snowing all of the time."

"That makes sense," Waddle agreed.

Since Kirby was first up the ladder, he had to be extra careful because one false step could ruin it for the others. The ladders were completely covered in ice, so he was watchful of what part of the ladder he grabbed so he wouldn't slip. As he ascended, however, he heard Dedede let out a shrill wail.

"Get away from me! I don't like prehistoric creatures!"

The king himself was being pecked at by numerous Pteran pterodactyls, so he had to fend them off as well as ascend up the ladder as well, but the snow began to fall heavier and his vision was hindered.

"I said get away from me!" Dedede yelled again, this time a bit more livid.

But it was no use. For some reason, the Pteran found an interest in his royal coat, so they would take it by any means necessary. They began pecking at the back of the coat, unintentionally waking up Adeleine, who had been asleep within the coat the entire time.

"Did we save the galaxy yet or- WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?!"

"They're Pteran," Dedede responded as he nearly lost his footing on the ladder. "H-hey, what are you doing?!"

Adeleine pulled out her easel and tried swatting the Pteran away, but this only added to the pressure put on Dedede.

Ribbon, who had made it to the top since she could fly, had felt the disturbance and flew down to handle the matter herself. One, because she had to help her friends, and two, she wasn't fond of standing atop the cliff alongside Kirby while snow continued to fall nonstop.

The fairy held the Crystal Shard up into the air and it began to glow profoundly. A loud piercing sound emanated throughout the ears of everyone within the shard's proximity as bright energy radiated off of the jewel and obliterated the Pteran in an instant.

When the bright light faded and both Adeleine and Dedede stopped screaming, they realized that they were at the top of the structure with the others, who had mixed expressions on their faces.

Moving along, the entourage felt that since they were getting higher, the snow got even deeper, and it was still falling. It didn't bother Kirby that much since he was accustomed to almost any type of weather change, Ribbon could always create a barrier with the shard, Dedede and Adeleine had Dedede's large coat and whatever else the artist could create to keep them warm, and Waddle Dee…Waddle Dee…

"Where'd Waddle go?" Kirby asked suddenly, realizing the red puffball wasn't next to him.

Ribbon tried looking through the thick blankets of snow. "He was right behind us a second ago."

"**BANZAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!"**

Waddle Dee abruptly halted their search as he came rushing towards them in a red sled that he must have constructed. They tried to run away, but the snow was too thick to get far and they were all bumped into the sled.

Kirby, completely ecstatic, looked around and saw how much ground they were covering. "This is more like it, Waddle! I tell you, this is the way to travel!"

This unfortunately brought up memories of the mine cart experience not that long ago on Neo Star, which wasn't Kirby, Waddle, or Adeleine's favorite event.

Dedede's head bobbed up and down as the cart ran over some rough hills and a few Chilly snowmen that tried to protect themselves with ice barriers.

"JUMP!!!" Adeleine exclaimed as she saw the log that was blocking their path. Everyone at once forced their weight to the back of the sled, while Dedede gave the back of the sled a good whack with his hammer, forcing it up and over the log and back onto the snow.

The sled ran over three Chilly snowmen in succession, a Mite mole that popped out of the ground, and an Emp that tried to avoid its demise, but failed. They then came to another log to jump over, but the end of the sled hit the top of the log, which was completely covered by solid ice, causing it to go even faster.

Soon, they approached a giant igloo that had a convenient entrance and exit for them to travel through.

Adeleine moaned in abhorrence as a snowball was thrown at her from afar. The Poppy Brother that threw the snowball laughed, but it was soon out of the young painter's range.

"You see?!" She exclaimed, preparing to stand up in the moving sled, "This is why we should've built a snowman!"

"LOG!!"

"Will you _stop_ screaming that?!" Waddle asked, a bit perturbed at Adeleine's constant outbursts every time something came up.

"I can't help it," she called back, "if I said it quietly, you wouldn't hear me because of the snow!"

The sled then went over a huge cliff before landing roughly in another snow patch.

"JUMP!"

"Adeleine, I promise you-"

"No, Waddle, she's right!"

Another large chasm appeared and it took two hard slams of Dedede's hammer to bring them up high enough to get over the gap safely.

All of a sudden, the Crystal Shard began to glow.

"A shard must be close by," Ribbon perceived as she clutched the gleaming jewel.

Kirby got in front of Waddle and looked ahead. Atop another giant igloo was something shiny.

The puffball turned around. "Dedede, pull us up and get us on top of that igloo!"

The king obliged, bringing his hammer high into the air and onto the end of the sled to provide enough momentum that would propel the sled high and onto the igloo. Kirby leaned to the side and grabbed the shard fragment just in time.

After several more huge chasms, running over more Bobo creatures, and traveling atop bumpy snow hills, there came one rock that was larger than the rest.

"Get us up, Dedede," Waddle called without looking behind him.

When nothing happened and the sled was still skidding on the snow, Waddle became frantic.

"I SAID GET US UP!!"

"Do you want me to get a dent in my hammer?" Dedede asked excitedly.

"You've already put the thing on water, sand, molten lava, and a walking tree- why would you possibly-"

Adeleine's words were cut off when the sled suddenly collided with the huge rock, catapulting the five into the air and sending them tumbling into the large igloo before them.

Unfortunately, they all tumbled all over one another and in the midst of their confusion, they never noticed the entrance seal shut.

"YOU'RE BITING ME!!!"

Waddle began viciously kicking at Ribbon, who was clinging onto him for her dear life. Her delirium stopped when a snowball fell on her from above.

"What the shard?"

Dedede slapped his forehead in confusion. "So now you're making jokes about the shard, is that it?"

Kirby looked a bit carefully at the obscure upside dome at the top of the igloo. Within the dome was a Crystal Shard fragment, but it looked like it would take a lot of work to get it out.

No time to worry about that; there was a giant Chilly before them that was blowing torrential blizzards their way, and they also had to contend with the Frigis birds that continued to rain down snowballs.

Kirby looked to Waddle and Dedede. "You two and Ribbon work on getting the shard. Adeleine and I will take care of the enemies."

"We will?"

Adeleine was dragged forward by Kirby and was told to get rid of the Frigis birds with whatever she could create.

Kirby began picking up speed and charged forward, his body slowly becoming a raging fireball. It began piercing the snowman's tough exterior, causing it to groan in the utmost displeasure.

After all, fire does beat ice.

Dedede threw Waddle Dee into the air in hopes that his body, as plush as it was, would be able to crack the dome that surrounded the shard fragment.

"THREE!!"

Waddle Dee was catapulted higher and higher until he hit the exterior. It didn't work and all he got for it was a horrible headache.

"This isn't working," Ribbon said flatly as she shooed away another Frigis bird by scaring it with the Crystal Shard.

As a Frigis prepared to dive bomb Ribbon, a hot flame soon intercepted its path and the bird became nothing but ash.

Ribbon looked to Adeleine, who had actually gone out of her way to paint a flamethrower.

"Um…Adeleine," Dedede began as he approached the painter, "are you only able to paint what you've seen?"

She let out a hearty laugh. "My imagination has no limits."

Meanwhile, Kirby jumped into the air in order to avoid the crystal barrier the giant Chilly snowman had created to protect itself. When the barrier disappeared, Kirby took a deep nosedive and his body became a powerful phoenix shot. The fireball bore into the Chilly's icy head and it suddenly began to warble and gurgle. Once Kirby had made his way into the snowy beast and shot himself out through the Chilly's stomach, the creature exploded.

The doors instantaneously opened and the remaining Frigis birds flew out in a hurry to avoid being destroyed just as their leader had been.

Kirby inhaled deeply before slowly floating into the air. The ascension brought him closer and closer to the dome where he could easily destroy it to free the shard.

When Kirby was at the opposite end of the dome, he used the phoenix shot fireball attack and surged forward. Small sparks trailing from the shot landed onto separate parts of the igloo and the structure began to melt, but Kirby had done his job: the dome had been melted and the shard, now in his hands, was free.

Even still, the shard began to react wildly.

"There must be another one nearby," Ribbon said as she flew out of the igloo and back into the freezing cold.

Back outside before the entourage was a frozen lake that was littered with Nruff creatures that found it difficult to maintain their balance or Propeller creatures that hovered above.

"The shard will have to be somewhere around here."

Dedede jumped atop one of the small mountains, taking out the Chilly snowman in the process, and surveyed his surroundings. This was difficult since the snow was blowing fiercely and some of it got into his eyes. He tried to wipe it off with his flippers, but only helped the snow spread to other parts of his face.

"I DON'T SEE IT!!!!!" He yelled before he hastily climbed down.

"I see it!"

Everyone rushed over to where Kirby was standing. Well, not everyone. Ribbon could easily fly over there and Adeleine had painted herself a pair of ice skates, but it was a bit harder for Dedede and Waddle, who were continually slipping on the ice.

Kirby was standing near a crack in the ice and pointing to something glistening at the far end of the lake.

Adeleine jumped high into the air and prepared to dive in, but Dedede quickly tackled her before she could land in the water.

"Are you crazy?!" He asked, shaking her wildly. "You'll be frozen in an instant!"

The two heard a splash and saw Kirby swimming away in the icy lake. Because they couldn't follow him, they only walked at the same pace that he swam.

Beneath the frozen ice, Kirby gasped and took in a mouthful of water as he saw some Slushy: blue and white jellyfish, approach him. He hastened his swim and grabbed the shard before any of the jellyfish could latch onto him with their tentacles. Soon enough, he was out of the water and the gang was on its way into the next area.

The snowfall was beginning to lighten here. It was strange for everyone to see that some of the clumps of snow had a light hue of pink or purple to it, but things were already strange enough.

Adeleine ran up the slippery ice hill and slid down, only to bump into an Emp penguin that let out a feral yell and ran for its life upon being touched.

"Heh," she chuckled lightly as she zipped up her jacket, "the penguin's so scared that he ran only after I-"

Something flashed past Adeleine's face, which now showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever. Her head slowly creaked to the right and she saw that an arrow was now about two inches away from her hand. Looking up, Adeleine saw the Yariko: creatures with red hats that threw spears, mutter something incoherent to itself.

Waddle made quick work of the Yariko when he picked up the spear and threw it right back at the creature.

"It's strange," Kirby said as he tried ascending up the ever slippery hill, "I always thought the Yariko were natives to Neo Star and Rock Star."

As they ascended up the hill, the gang was blocked by a giant red rock that was being guarded by a Putt: green worms with yellow horns that always pushed down heavy rocks.

"Hey, move the rock out of the way!" Ribbon shouted.

The Putt appeared from behind the rock and laughed loudly as it pushed down the huge boulder.

Dedede rushed forward with his hammer and brought it down on the rock, shattering it into millions of tiny fragments.

Waddle Dee stood perplexed at the strength behind that hammer. "Who would have known that it could do that kind of damage?"

Then came the incline that was larger than the rest. The snow didn't make it any easier at all, so there was the occasional slipup from Waddle or Adeleine.

Kirby, who had been admiring the crystalline hills, didn't hear the faint rumbling noise coming from ahead. It was only when he looked up did he see the giant rock that was headed his way.

Ribbon quickly flew over to Kirby and lifted him up and over the rock while Dedede went over and introduced the Putt to his flipper.

The fairy sighed as she brought Kirby to solid ground. "_You_ need to be more careful."

Behind them, Adeleine pouted. "She doesn't hit _him_ when he screws up."

Now larger cracks in the land began to appear, yet it seemed safe to jump across. How wrong they were.

As Waddle put his first foot over the crack, a Maw jumped out at him. Maws were blue creatures with giant mouths that popped out of holes, swallowed their prey, and spit them back out. The creature snarled and tried to grab the red puffball's foot. Adeleine came rushing in with a hammer she painted and began to bash the Maw until it vanished with a poof.

The other two gaps were a clear indication of what lay within them, so Adeleine painted some bombs to drop into the gaps beforehand. The screams were evidence that her plan had worked.

Kirby let out a sigh of relief as he saw that as he and the others continued to walk, the onslaught of snow had ceased. It was time to look for more shards in hopefully higher ground.

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Higher ground indeed.

The gang had arrived at a mountain that had crystal stalagmites sticking out at almost every point, giving little room to walk. It was a steep incline, yet everyone was a bit disappointed when they approached the top and saw that there was nothing there except a lonely Zebon: green balls with faces that catapulted anyone higher once they jumped in.

"Don't tell me we went through that snow for nothing," Ribbon groaned.

Kirby took a step closer, but slipped on the ice and fell into the Zebon. The creature smiled as it slowly spun around and shot the pink puffball into the air. Kirby's scream resonated throughout the sky.

Dedede didn't let his head drop. "He's not coming back, is he?"

"Nope," Adeleine replied.

"Well," Ribbon began as she beckoned the others to jump into the Zebon with her, "we better follow him."

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**Phazon: **Sorry if this update took a long time, but I've been busy with schoolwork and this is a very long level to recreate in text form. Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and I'll be back with the next installment on Shiver Star.


	22. Riding on Cloud Nine

**Phazon:** Sorry if the wait was long, but I hope this makes up for that. This is a long level to create a chapter for, but I think I got as much out of it as I could.

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**Riding on Cloud Nine**

Kirby's earth shattering wail could be heard from the far reaches of Shiver Star and back as he continued coasting higher and higher towards the sky.

"That Zebon tricked meeeeeeeee!!!!" He loudly proclaimed as he burst through a cloud that had a convenient hole for him to blow through. The screams came to a halt when Kirby landed on solid clouds and found himself atop the clouds.

Kirby had never seen heaven, but even if he had a vague idea, where he was now would have to be a substitute. Aside from the breezes in the air, all was calm. The ground was littered with multicolored stars and huge diamonds that were protruding from the underside of the clouds.

"Hey," Kirby said as he jumped on top of the clouds, "how can there be solid clouds all the way up in the sky?"

Kirby jumped across a gap and was even more cautious this time around when he leapt because he didn't want to find out exactly how long the fall downwards would be if he lost his footing. Once he landed on the other side, he saw a Bronto Burt fly out of a hole in one of the clouds. He cautiously approached it.

"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to have seen some kind of crystal jewel land around here, have you?"

The Bronto Burt paused in midair and looked in the direction of the gigantic jewels strewn about the clouds. After looking around for five seconds, the Bronto Burt stared at Kirby.

"I…was kind of hoping for something a bit smaller than that, but I guess all birds can't be that smart."

Taking offense to this, the Bronto Burt called over his comrade who flew out of another hole in the cloud. The two of them zipped over to Kirby and pecked furiously, but they barely did any damage due to his puffy exterior. So long as their beaks weren't blunt, the Bronto Burts would wear themselves out trying to attack Kirby.

"Ha-ha! I may as well be made of rubber!"

Kirby grabbed the first Bronto Burt by one of its wings and slammed it on the ground…beak first. Needless to say the Burt's beak shattered due to the force of the impact. It was shocking to the creature because it had heard of Kirby's monstrous strength, but it had never met Kirby since the puffball never visited Shiver Star.

When Kirby set the first Burt down, the bird got the message and flew off in a huff, its sorrowful tears eventually lost somewhere in the sky. The second Bronto Burt didn't get a chance to retreat since Kirby and grabbed it by the feet. Looking for a good target, Kirby found it in the lone Sir Kibble knight that was practicing different ways to throw its plume. The Kibble's armor had just been given a fresh paint job and he wasn't looking forward to it being ruined.

The Kibble sensed danger and turned in the direction away from Kirby in order to throw its plume at an approaching Pteran pterodactyl. Unfortunately, a strong gust of wind sent the plume back _at_ the Kibble knight, who ended up taking the object straight to the head, sending it off of its high horse (a block) and careening far…far…far _down_ a hole and towards the frigid regions of Shiver Star.

As Kirby watched the Kibble knight go down, he also had the displeasure of seeing his companions suddenly come _up_, particularly Dedede's hammer, which collided with Kirby's face and sent him tumbling backwards. He'd heard Adeleine's wails, but he wasn't quick enough to avoid getting hit.

Dedede and Waddle landed unceremoniously on the clouds while Ribbon floated down and Adeleine quickly painted herself a parasol. After spitting out a mouthful of clouds, Dedede stormed over to Kirby and removed his hammer from the puffball's face.

"I'M GONNA BASH YOUR FACE IN!!"

"Mmpmm…mhmm…mhnalrmmh?"

"…What?"

Dedede got behind and pushed Kirby while Waddle Dee tried pulling his face out. They didn't work together at first, but after a few seconds, Kirby was back to normal. When his plush face popped back, it bumped Waddle in the face and sent him into Adeleine.

"I was saying that you probably did that already. Where'd you all come from?"

"The same Zebon that you flew up here in," Ribbon replied, "except we all had to work ourselves into it because _someone_ took up a lot of space."

Kirby expected several pairs of glaring eyes to fall on Dedede, but they didn't- they were on Adeleine.

"Hey, it's my easel! I'm not gonna leave it down there to get eaten by birds!"

Adeleine noted the change in the weather. They were still on Shiver Star, but they couldn't believe that it wasn't snowing all the way up in the clouds when they'd just come out of a freak snowstorm. The cool breezes of air still made it a bit chilly, but nothing compared to down below. Adeleine approached the edge of a cloud and let the gentle breeze flow through her hair.

"Hey, artist," Dedede called, "I don't want to see your underwear!"

Embarrassed beyond belief, Adeleine tugged her skirt down and tried to avoid letting anyone see her. Even though she was still too young to know about anything mature, she was still a lady, and just to prove it, she jumped off of the cloud and onto one of the platforms that was rising up and down. She then got on her hands and knees to get a better view of the edge.

"Wow…" she mused, "that's a long drop down."

Adeleine heard the flutter of Ribbon's wings as she hovered next to her.

"Someone would probably fall for a pretty long time until they hit the ground."

Kirby and Waddle chose to ignore the sights and just jumped across the levitating platforms with ease despite the strong wind resistance that was constantly blowing them back. Dedede helped Adeleine jump from platform to platform and Ribbon simply flew across. They then jumped across two stationary platforms, but Dedede and Adeleine had a bit of trouble fighting off the swarm of Pteran.

Waddle landed on another cloud and grabbed one of the Skud rockets before it could scurry away. He threw it into its unsuspecting neighbor Skud, but because both creatures had bomb elemental powers, there was an expected explosion that scared all of the Bronto Burt birds away.

Kirby ran past Waddle and jumped across the levitating pink, yellow, and green platforms, but before he could go any further, Ribbon called out his name as she held up the Crystal Shard.

"It's beginning to react! I think there's another fragment around here."

"Up here in the clouds? Why would pieces of it land up here in the sky?"

Dedede leapt across another cloud and jumped onto one of the large diamonds protruding outward. He was looking through a makeshift telescope that Adeleine had painted.

"Well, if it's shining, I don't see it."

Kirby walked past Dedede, unaware of the huge hole in the cloud ahead of him.

"If the one we have is reacting, then it has to be-"

He never finished his sentence since he fell through the hole and onto another cloud below as opposed to back towards Shiver Star's surface. When Kirby lifted himself up off of the clouds, he saw the fragment.

"Guys, I found it! I don't know how it got all the way up here, but it's here!"

Waddle approached the hole. "Then stop yelling about it and get back up here!"

Before Kirby did so, he saw that the cloud he was on went further on in case he didn't want to float through the hole.

"Meet me at the edge. This stretch keeps on going."

Everyone leapt across the hole, swatting away Pteran in the process, and stopped at the edge, but Kirby wasn't there. He was already traversing the floating platforms ahead, except a Sir Kibble knight had landed a clear shot on his head with its plume. This led to it being absorbed, but as opposed to keeping only one element, Kirby threw the green elemental crystal towards the other Kibble knight on the next platform in order to create the crystal that would give him the double boomerang.

Above him, Kirby watched Adeleine carefully jump from platform to platform without losing her balance.

"Um…why do they all have stars on them? Is this supposed to symbolize something about the planet?"

Waddle leapt over Adeleine's head and onto the next platform. "I don't know, but maybe we'll find out later on."

Slowly but surely, they all made it across and onto solid…clouds. Kirby stood in awe at the enormous dome before him, or at least he thought it was a dome. It wasn't as big as the igloos he'd seen down on the snowy hills, but it came close.

Dedede clutched his hammer at the thought of another giant snowman attacking them, but Adeleine pushed him in from behind and the others followed suit.

As they passed through the entrance, everyone found that the air was thicker and it was more difficult to breathe. In the middle of the path before them was another Zebon.

Kirby cautiously approached the Zebon and attempted to only tap the ball to see if it had any life in it, but the second he touched the Zebon, he was sucked into it. The Zebon's indifferent expression became a smile, and then a glare as it shot Kirby into the air. This time, however, Ribbon latched onto Kirby's right foot in an effort to weigh him down. It didn't work, so both of them were sent sky high.

"Ugh…not again," Dedede groaned as he jumped into the Zebon that launched him into the sky. Adeleine and Waddle mirrored his actions and they all found themselves stuffed into a single Zebon. A Zebon does not expand or grow if more than one thing is stuffed into it, so Kirby, Ribbon, Adeleine, Waddle Dee _and_ King Dedede were all cramped into a single Zebon, struggling for air. They had no time to complain since the second Zebon they were in launched them all into yet _another_ Zebon.

"Waddle, get your foot out of my-" Dedede's complaints were drowned out by Adeleine's sudden shrieks and cries that resonated throughout the Zebon, harming everyone's ears.

Never mind the fact that the Zebon they were all in was spinning. It was the large number of Bronto Burt birds, Scarfy faces, and Fishbone creatures that surrounded them on all sides. There's always a bright side to everything, though. Ribbon, noticing the Crystal Shard was reacting again, saw a shard fragment floating in midair to her upper left. Getting to it was the problem since the Zebon was constantly spinning.

"I think if we all force ourselves out at the right time, one of us can grab the shard."

"And _then_ what?!" Adeleine shrieked as she punched Dedede's robe. "We'll just go flying into nowhere and we'll end up back on the snow!"

"But there's another Zebon in every direction," Kirby pointed out as he landed on Waddle's left, "so I think that wherever we go, we'll be safe."

Adeleine pouted and tried to cross her legs, but there was no room, so she couldn't.

"You all go ahead, but I'm staying here where it's saaaff-" She never finished her sentence since the Zebon rotating caused her to land on Dedede's stomach.

"Never mind her. When the Zebon is aiming in the shard's direction, we'll all push, got it?"

Kirby, Waddle, and Dedede all agreed. It didn't take much time and the Zebon was facing the shard. Instantly, they pushed as hard as they could to escape the Zebon, but it did the job for them. It shot all of them, including Adeleine since Dedede grabbed her hand at the last second, out of the bubble and into the air. Kirby, leading the way, blew through each of the Scarfy faces and grabbed the shard fragment in the knick of time.

They all flew into a nearby Zebon and weren't given a chance to do anything since it shot them all back towards the center one at an even faster speed.

Adeleine felt the blood rushing to her head. "Okay…no more. Can we just get on solid ground?"

"We can't do that because we're up in the sky," Dedede muttered.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!"

"Let's just go towards the surface. There's another huge hole that should lead somewhere safe."

Everyone pushed upward once the Zebon faced that way. They were blasted up into the air and into another Zebon that sent them even higher.

Ribbon flew out first, followed by Kirby and the others. Adeleine, who had been falling behind, was last, and nearly jumped down the hole when a nearby Poppy Brother threw a bomb at her. Dedede swatted the bomb away and grabbed the Brother by its hat.

"Hey, punk, let's see if you can fly."

And with that, Dedede threw the Poppy Brother down the hole and walked on. Before Kirby could walk up to Dedede and ask him something, a Mopoo: white snowball looking creatures that pop out of clouds, dropped down from the clouds and disappeared into the clouds Kirby was standing on.

Waddle threw the next Poppy Brother they saw into a waiting Scarfy situated between some more platforms. The difference between these and the last ones is that these seemed to get smaller and bigger. Adeleine jumped onto a huge pink platform that was occupied by a Cairn creature that she knocked off with her easel. She took a minute to look around for any more shards, but was thrown off when a Gabon from above threw its hat at her. She nearly fell off if not for Kirby grabbing her and throwing her three platforms ahead while he pushed the Gabon off.

Ribbon flew past the light green platform Adeleine landed on just in time to avoid the giant pink boomerang that flew over her head. It was a good thing that she didn't get up, for two seconds later, the green crystal flew past her. Kirby had gotten bored of the same two elements and wanted something new. He found it by absorbing a nearby Tick creature: white raindrops with red pointed caps that could extend at any given point.

"Ribbon…back up for a second," Kirby warned her as he jumped between two Ticks.

Ribbon flew into the air and watched as Kirby suddenly became a pink porcupine. Spikes protruded in every direction, piercing everything close to him, including the two Ticks that weren't fast enough to move.

Waddle and Dedede had leapt on ahead until they reached the clouds, swatting away the annoying Scarfy faces and Cairn creatures. When it seemed like the clouds could go no further, Dedede directed Waddle's attention to the platforms above them. Kirby, Ribbon, and Adeleine joined them eventually.

"Nowhere to go but up," Adeleine said as she climbed one platform and helped Waddle up the next.

As Kirby ascended, he saw that the clouds here gave off a light pink hue. It couldn't have been due to the number of light pink crystals all around them, so why would the clouds be different colors?

"I tell you guys, Shiver Star has nothing but weird-"

A Mopoo emerging from the clouds interrupted Kirby, but it found itself at the end of a long needle in no time at all.

"-looking clouds and never ending snow," Kirby continued as he regressed to his normal form. "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a giant robot or something next."

Waddle swatted away all of the pesky Mopoo creatures that seemed to come from everywhere. Since there were clouds all around them, these Mopoo came out at almost every second. After taking one more out, Waddle found that no more were coming yet. He jumped across one hole and prepared to jump across another when a Maw emerged from the hole in an attempt to swallow him. Waddle jumped into the air and kicked the Maw back into its hole once it had closed its mouth.

The gaps were getting longer and wider, everyone noticed. It was nothing difficult, but the Bronto Burt birds and Mopoo made it seem that way. When Kirby landed on a cloud, he took out the brownish elemental crystal he had and threw it at the bouncing Sparky in order to create a combination. Moving along, Kirby failed to notice the shadows he passed over until it was too late.

A Maw popped down from above and was prepared to swallow Kirby whole when all of a sudden, a black needle pierced its mouth. It didn't end there, for the Maw felt electricity surging throughout its body until it was destroyed. Kirby hadn't paid attention to what he had done and was confused until Ribbon rushed over to him.

"Guys, what just happened?"

"You turned yourself into a lightning rod."

The shard began reacting again. This time, it was from whatever was inside that strangely well crafted entrance ahead. Everyone whisked into the room only to discover that the entrances didn't lock on them like most did, but were blocked by some tough resistant cushiony material.

Dedede took out his hammer. "Looks like we're in for some fun."

Ribbon pointed towards the center of the yellow and light brown box. "And it's well worth it! There's a shard trapped in that box!"

As Ribbon tried to break the box, a giant Mopoo emerged from the left of the cloud room and tackled her to the ground. Kirby ran under the Mopoo and gave it a powerful thunder jolt, but he hadn't expected to shatter the box containing the shard fragment as well.

Waddle used the clouds as a cushion to bounce himself into one of the Propeller creatures while Dedede knocked off their propellers, rendering them useless. Adeleine painted a bat and treated the Propellers like baseballs.

When the Mopoo entered the clouds again, Kirby tried to see if he could tell by any movement in the clouds, but that didn't do anything.

"Kirby, it's coming from your right!"

Hearing Ribbon's words, Kirby ducked before the Mopoo could strike him. Now Kirby could score a direct hit on the Mopoo. Kirby focused and focused until his body took on the shape of a lightning rod again. A bolt of lightning penetrated the clouds and connected with both Kirby _and_ the Mopoo, but the giant cloud creature still moved on.

Adeleine knocked another Propeller into the wall. "They're starting to come even faster than before!"

"Just keep holding them off!"

Waddle was surprised when the Mopoo suddenly appeared from above and knocked him backwards into Dedede. Kirby ran over and tried to catch it with another lightning bolt, but it had gotten away. Before he could do anything, the Mopoo emerged from the right at a faster speed. Just as it was about to collide with Kirby head on, Dedede appeared from the left and landed a good, solid blow on the Mopoo with his hammer.

"End this already, Kirby! I'm starting to get _used_ to seeing pink!"

Kirby shuffled underneath the Mopoo and gave it one final thunder bolt, obliterating it for good.

"I got it!"

"And I've got the shard!" Ribbon yelled as the barriers to the entrance and exit vanished.

With that, everyone rushed through the exit of the cloud dome…only to find that they were walking on thin air.

Adeleine froze. "Nobody…look…down."

She was the first to do so, but by that time, they were all falling fast and back towards Shiver Star's surface. Well, not everyone since Kirby and Ribbon could just float down.

Kirby looked further down. "Hey, there's another Zebon! Maybe it'll slow us down!"

Kirby and Ribbon easily made their way into the Zebon, but it was a bit harder for Waddle and Dedede since the king himself was so heavy. Adeleine had painted herself a set of wings so she could fly into the Zebon. She didn't have enough time to paint two more pairs.

"YOU GUYS!!!!" Kirby bellowed as he watched Dedede and Waddle fall further.

"Don't worry!!" Waddle replied. "There's another Zebon! We'll jump into that one!"

The Zebon that Kirby, Ribbon, and Adeleine were in shot them downwards at an accelerated rate. It wasn't the slow pace like the other Zebon they'd been in. They eventually caught up to Dedede and Waddle and fell for an extended period of time until they hit solid ground three minutes later.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Kirby winced as he felt a snowflake land on his body. They were back on Shiver Star's surface and it was still snowing hard. There weren't any snowmen around and the path Kirby and the others were on wasn't as completely covered with snow as the others.

Dedede stood up and squinted at the strange fixture ahead of him.

"What kind of building is that? And why is it painted with _purple_ stripes?"

"Purple represents royalty," Adeleine said as she took a step forward. The others soon followed her into the building.

Inside, Adeleine's jaw dropped and she squealed with delight as she looked at the various conveyer belts, creatures assembling things and objects, and the sense of joy that was complemented by the way the building was painted.

Ribbon just looked around and came up with what she thought was a good enough of a conclusion.

"Clearly, this place is a-"

"TOOOOOOOYYYY FACTOOOORRYYYYYYYY!!!!"

And with that, Adeleine ran off, but she tripped on the edge of the conveyer belt and hit her face on the plastered floor.

Kirby turned around to face Ribbon with hopeful eyes. "Is it really a toy factory, Ribbon?"

Ribbon glared coldly. "_No._"

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**Note:** I know that the connection between the cloud level and the next is a bit farfetched, but I'm trying to think of a way to connect these levels that will make sense and could actually happen within the game. Veterans of _The Crystal Shards_ and even readers would know that a world up in the clouds can't just immediately connect back to the ground, so I hope that this method of getting sent down there via Zebon works. I hope you enjoyed reading and that it was worth the wait.


	23. Shards in Toyland

Phazon: Thanks for not abandoning the story and still holding out. This level is a long one with its many layers, but I squeezed as much out of it as I could. I hope you readers have a happy holiday and New Year and don't worry. The story will continue as Kirby and company get closer to the face-off with Dark Matter on Ripple Star.

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**Shards in Toyland**

"I hate toys."

Dedede tapped his hammer against the slow conveyer belt he and everyone else rode, except for Adeleine, who was picking at every brightly colored object she saw. Dedede had ridden slugs that moved faster than the conveyer belts did and _they_ were dying.

Kirby helped Waddle onto the next elevator before looking back at Dedede. "Come on, Dedede. We're so close to finding all of the shards and you're complaining about being in a toy factory."

In front, Ribbon clenched her teeth and fists. "It's _not_ a toy-"

Cold water doused Ribbon's rant and had the fairy covering herself as she tried to remember she was _inside_, not back outside in the snow. She looked up and saw Adeleine, with a dripping bucket, riding the next elevator. "_Why_ did you do that?"

"Look ahead."

Ribbon squinted at eyes at the small red rock at the top of the elevator. She shrugged when she realized that nothing was happening, except something _did_ begin to occur: the rock began to get bigger and bigger until Ribbon realized it was rolling towards her.

Before Ribbon could react, Dedede jumped in front of her and bashed the rock of the conveyer belt, but it kept rolling on and on and on into a nearby room until…

_CRASH!_

Kirby didn't have ears, but he still winced at the crunching glass and spilling bolts coming from the ground floor room. The rock roller, a laughing Putt worm, tried to inch away but came under attack by Dedede's hammer.

The four rushed up several levels in a vain attempt to catch up to Adeleine, who was already at the top, pointing to something in the distance. "You guys, you guys! It's another shard thingy!"

Waddle Dee swatted away two Bouncy springs pouncing on his head and couldn't hear Adeleine's announcement, but Kirby heard everything. He inhaled and began to take flight in order to see the level Adeleine was pointing to, but gravity was not on his side and he fell back to the elevator before he could grab a nearby ledge.

Ribbon felt tiny tremors coming from the Crystal Shard, but she couldn't see the fragment either. She looked to her left, only more snow coming from outside, and ahead, another Putt work rolling a rock down at her. This time, however, Ribbon remembered she had wings and flew up and over the rock and kicked the Putt down to its doom.

When everyone arrived at the elevator where Adeleine was standing, they turned around and saw a faint glint in the distance. The shard laid on a faraway ledge, _too_ far away for Kirby to try and fly to if he wanted that jewel.

"See? I told you I knew where it was! You guys always think I'm wrong because I'm young and-" Adeleine's rant halted when Dedede hoisted her into the air by her skirt.

"So you like to talk, right? Let's see if you can fly."

With the color draining from her face at the thought of becoming a human missile, Adeleine kicked her feet and wiggled around to try to get out of Dedede's death grip, but she did not budge. "C-come on, I can just paint myself some wings and fly there myself!"

Waddle protested. "Yes, but this is faster."

Amidst the rambling, Ribbon sighed with disgust before flying over and nabbing the jewel, muttering something about how penguins shouldn't be put in charge of castles and little girls shouldn't have easels with art works that come to life. When Ribbon returned landed back on the ledge, she walked past the screeching Adeleine and pressed the "Up" button on the wall. It wasn't until thirteen seconds later when the bell rang that everyone stopped yelling and the elevator door opened. Ribbon inched her head towards the others.

"I have the shard, now let's go."

Everyone scrambled into the elevator, though Adeleine almost lost her right foot since Dedede dropped her in order to get into the elevator first. She rushed to one end of the elevator in order to catch her breath. Her breath came out in labored puffs as she pointed accusingly at Dedede.

"You tried to kill me!"

But Dedede kept his stance. "You're just a brat who doesn't like to learn how to fly! Sometimes in life, you have to take risks if you want to get the prize!"

"Then why didn't _you_ go?!" Adeleine threw her paintbrush at Dedede, who, and Kirby, moved out of the way before it bounced against the wall.

"Your body is light enough, and if we lose you, then we can steal your stuff since you're just a little kid!"

Adeleine's blood boiled and she clenched her fists. Before she could charge forward-

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!"

Silence penetrated the elevator and the only sound was the quiet hum of ascension as the elevator continued its way up. All eyes zoned in on Ribbon, who was pressing her hand against the stained glass on one side.

"You both are acting like idiots, so don't try to out argue one another! Adeleine, Dedede is right: risks do have to be taken if we want to find all of the shard fragments-"

"HA!"

"-but not for the sake of amusement or pain."

Adeleine's tongue was almost out of her mouth, but she noticed that Ribbon could see everyone's reflection in the glass and decided against it.

Ribbon continued as the elevator began to slow down. "We don't have them all yet…but we're making progress. It's almost over…"

As the elevator doors parted to reveal another level, the darkness in Ribbon's mind and the fog surrounding Ripple Star began to vanish simultaneously. Yes, putting everyone's life on the line meant a few sacrifices, but she was not about to let any of them die for the sake of her own matter. In the end, she realized that _she_ had to handle the problem herself.

"…so what more can we do?"

Ribbon floated into the room with everyone- Adeleine and Dedede at least five feet away from each other for now- trudging behind her in silent recognition.

Kirby's eyes ran in zigzags across the room. The lime floor complemented the turquoise, violet, and bronze trees that slept on the side of the space. Two Sawyers, miniature red and gray saw blades, began carving down the middle and sides of the level in an attempt to bring down the floor. Waddle Dee noticed this and uprooted a nearby Mahall blob by its green hat.

The Mahall tried to squirm around, but it didn't have hands or legs. "H-Hey, what are you doing?! I'm gonna-"

Waddle Dee threw the Mahall at one of the Sawyer saws and sent both smashing into the wall while Kirby rushed the others into the elevator before it left. "Come on, Waddle! If the room goes, we should go!"

As the doors closed after Waddle Dee jumped in, the remaining Sawyer stopped cutting up and realized that the perpetrators had fled. A faint creaking sound echoed throughout the room and the Sawyer began to sweat bullets when it realized what it had done. The last move it made was a quick rotation to the left as the ground began to split.

-

-

-

On the second level, Ribbon winced when she heard something like an explosion ring in her ears as the lower level collapsed on itself. Lights flickered on and off, paint chips peeled from the walls, and Glom frogs ducked back into their holes.

Nostalgia hit Adeleine on the head as she slid down one of the giant triangles and imagined herself back on the playgrounds, but like other playgrounds, there was the school bully, and Dedede was there at the end of the triangle to halt her fun. "Something wrong with you?"

"I feel like I'm back in nursery school!"

Dedede swung his hammer over Adeleine's head. "You're gonna _wish_ you were back in nursery school when I'm-"

Before Dedede could finish, Adeleine scurried off into the elevator along with Kirby and Waddle Dee. Dedede felt a shiver run down his spine when he heard the rapid fluttering of Ribbon's wings. "How about you start moving?"

Everyone whisked into the elevator. Kirby jumped up and down at the thought of reaching the toy factory again, but when the door opened, his reaction was the opposite. "Another level?! This toy factory stinks!"

Adeleine, however, rushed into the room with a huge grin. "But look, Kirby! This one's more fun than the others!"

Pupas, the familiar red, black, and yellow Hershey kisses creatures, dropped down from their suspended ropes, but jumped back up in horror when three smiling Ticks became straight needles ready to puncture and point. Fun wasn't the right word, but Adeleine and Kirby just looked at one another. "First one to the end gets to take Dedede's hammer!"

"What?!" the king yelped from behind.

Kirby and Adeleine ran forward, swinging from one Pupa to the next as if they were back on the jungles of Neo Star. Ignoring Kirby's Tarzan yell, Adeleine took out a scrap of paper and painted a pair of scissors. She looked down at Kirby and cut the Pupa's string, sending the both of them towards a waiting Tick.

"HEY, YOU CHEATED!" Kirby floated back into the air and tried to become a lightning rod again, but he stopped and remembered he got rid of that power up in order to find something better.

Adeleine flipped off of a giant blue block and strutted into the elevator with pride written on her forehead. "Ha, I beat you, Kirby!" She looked over to the approaching Dedede. "So I guess I get to take your hammer."

Dedede said nothing, he just grabbed Adeleine and held her over his head again and waited for everyone to enter the elevator. Kirby tapped his foot impatiently for losing and having to go to yet _another_ level, Waddle stared at the wall, Ribbon kept looking at the shard to see if it would react again, and Adeleine just wailed on and on. "Hey, where are you taking me?! I'm a girl; I don't want you guys to see up my skirt!"

The elevator doors parted and Dedede grinned at the waiting green I3 block. He placed Adeleine on the block, halting her angry tirade, and stood back. He frowned, however, when Adeleine noticed the growing shadow and huge block headings towards her and causing her feet to spring to attention and propel her into the next elevator. She avoided the rotating Gordo's spikes and narrowly lost her paintbrushes and crayons to I3 blocks, but Waddle, feeling generous, grabbed them before they were crushed.

Kirby looked up at the I3 block and spoke. "Excuse me, but have you seen any flying sparkling crystals around this toy factory?"

The I3 came down again, but the resounding shockwave didn't make Kirby falter. Instead, he spoke louder.

"I _said_ have you _seen_ a crystal fragment somewhere in this toy store!"

Several tense seconds passed before the I3 at last narrowed its eye on Kirby and addressing him with a booming voice. "Pink one, one who speaks loudly speaks longest. The jewel is found in the Pupa's nest." The I3 ascended as Kirby ran under it and into _another_ elevator. As the doors closed, everyone stood in silence and tried to dissect the clue.

Adeleine put her thinking cap, a cap she drew with a T on it, on her head and sat on the floor. "We just past a bunch of those Pupa chocolate looking thingies, so do you think we missed it?"

"No, there may be more ahead _if_ we don't get off of this maze."

"Relax, Kirby, we've only been through a few levels."

The bell ringing was followed by the doors parting and Kirby was the first to step onto the floor. "All right, bring on whatever you've got! I'm tired of elevators, now give me some fun!" Kirby's anger was calmed by a cannonball smacking him into Waddle Dee and the elevator doors.

The room was littered with rapid fire cannons which were accompanied by bomb wielding Poppy Brothers. The Brothers had done well to wear their parkas during the winter weather even though they were inside.

Adeleine's nose caught a whiff of…something unexplainable. She could not describe the scent, but whatever it was had her running off in a huff through the door before the others could grab her.

"Wait, Adeleine, where are you going?!" Dedede's words stumbled on top of another just like he did when he tripped over Waddle Dee.

"I think I can feel one of the jewels somewhere!" Adeleine's voice echoed from the other room. "Don't wait up for me!"

Ribbon dodged another cannonball and bomb. "Wait up? You're running…oh, what's the point?" She looked to the others. "Come on, guys, let's rescue her before she gets herself into trouble."

"Again."

Ribbon nodded. "Again."

Before he entered the room, Kirby inhaled one of the Poppy Brothers and threw the black elemental crystal at another one to see if something new would happen with two bomb creatures.

After Kirby stepped in, the door sealed shut. He knew this feeling already and expected something to shoot out of one of the blue or red flowers littered in the center of the room, but nothing happened.

Ribbon almost jumped out of her skin when the Crystal Shard began vibrating again. "There's a piece somewhere in here, but it must be hidden."

"And the starving artist is still missing." Dedede added.

Several black Bo balls materialized out of thin air and began to seep through the walls, one after another. A _slurp_ sound accompanied each one that oozed through the walls as Kirby and Waddle Dee eased their way to the center.

"If these guys are holding the shard, we shouldn't have any-"

Something big and hard crashed down on the two and it wasn't Dedede's hammer. The blunt object suspended above them was a giant Pupa inching its way up and through the ceiling.

Dedede slammed a Bo against the wall and dodged two others that dove in for a tackle. "Where'd it go?!"

Ribbon looked up and down for the shard and didn't notice the growing shadow around her. Before the Pupa came crashing down on Ribbon, a missile intercepted the Pupa and sent it hurdling into a wall. Ribbon looked over and saw three more missiles fly out of Kirby's mouth and low three Bo balls into oblivion.

"Kirby, how did you-?"

Kirby spat out a dud rocket and leapt to the left as another Bo tried to attack him. "I don't know…but it makes my mouth burn." Kirby's body expanded until he could hold no more and spat four missiles at the Pupa before it could get through the wall again. The Pupa warbled and groaned, but was still able to retreat.

Waddle Dee jumped from one side of the wall and headbutted several Bo in Dedede's direction, where they met his hammer. "These things keep on coming! We'll never get out of here!"

"How did the artist get past _this_?" Dedede wondered aloud as the ceiling opened again.

Ribbon shrieked and flew to one corner just as the Pupa almost smothered her, but she had to retreat to another corner when a Bo started oozing from the wall. Three of the balls gave chase as repressed memories of escaping Ripple Star flooded Ribbon's mind. She had failed…no, never _again_! Ribbon turned around in mid flight and held the Crystal Shard, which began giving off a violent glow, to fend off the Bo with the power of light.

Kirby shielded his eyes to avoid the bright light and missed his opportunity to get another hit on the Pupa, but was sure from its slow ascent that it was about to die. Kirby narrowed his eyes on the ceiling and waited for it to part again, but nothing happened save for Ribbon, Dedede, and Waddle Dee fending off arriving Bo.

When a ray of light pierced the room, Kirby jumped into the air, took in a huge breath, and fired one last rocket into the ceiling before the Pupa could spring down. The resounding explosion from within the walls resulted in a shard fragment materializing through the wall and slowly floating down to the center of the room.

Dedede kicked another Bo into the wall. "We got what we needed; now let's get out of here!"

Ribbon was the last one to exit the room after grabbing the jewel.

-

-

-

Kirby sighed not because the battle was over, but that he didn't walk into a room with an elevator. The glass wall to his left could have used a bit of decoration to make the room a bit festive in comparison to the other rooms. Kirby leapt back when a piece of red peeked at him from behind the glass, followed by black hair and the rest of Adeleine's body.

Adeleine waved and tried to speak, but the others couldn't hear her, so she decided to paint. With fruit on her mind, Adeleine drew a melon, peach, and an orange in order to see if Kirby would leap at the two dimensional works of art. Her prediction was right when Kirby collided with the glass.

Dedede hit the glass a few times with his hammer, but no matter how hard he tried, the glass would not break. When Adeleine stuck her tongue out and made a face, Dedede only slammed the glass harder and faster and even tried to bite the glass, but Adeleine didn't even attempt to step back or hold in her laughter. She collapsed to the ground in a heap of chortles and snorts.

"Leave her." Kirby and Waddle Dee saw the shard shaking in Ribbon's tiny hands. "If a fragment is nearby, we need to hurry up and find it. We can come back for her later."

Everyone shrugged and followed Ribbon into the next room. Adeleine was still on the floor, laughing. In the next room lay different colored switches, ranging from red to violet to brown to any color Kirby could think of. Waddle, however, was confused.

"The door isn't locked, there aren't any creeps or anything around, so what's with the switches?"

Dedede sat down on the pink switch. "Maybe if we press them in order, we can find another shard."

With kiwi on the brain, Kirby leapt over and up to smash the pound the green switch, yet nothing happened and no surprise fruit fell from the sky. "Darn it, I was so close, too!"

Ribbon studied the switches in order to find a pattern. What were they supposed to correspond with and why? Then, something hit her. Before she could remember what Adeleine drew on the wall and seeing if there was a connection, Waddle Dee, wanting to match up with something his color, sat on the orange switch and caused a Crystal Shard fragment to materialize above Ribbon's head. She looked up and frowned. "Why did that just happen?"

Kirby, Waddle Dee, and Dedede all shared a similar look of confusion before shrugging and accepting that it was a coincidence before moving on after Ribbon grabbed the jewel. Dedede came back to hit the purple switch with no response. "See? This toy factory is broken!"

The next room, from the snapping Kacti cactus, angry Yariko spear chuckers and Venus fly traps gave off a garden variety vibe. In the midst of oncoming spears, Dedede swung his hammer around swatting every Yariko in his path. "_This place makes no sense! It keeps on changing!_"

But Kirby, after Ribbon pushed him out of the way of a Kacti's jaws, looked three rooms ahead and smiled. "But it looks like there's another elevator not that far from here. We'll be out of here in no time."

Waddle Dee walked without hesitation into the room. As he prepared to ask a floating Gordo for directions, Waddle heard a rumble and he checked behind to see if anything was coming, but it was only Kirby and Ribbon waving their arms up and down as if to say 'Move.' Waddle ignored them and was snatched by Dedede at the last second before the huge block could squash him. "You're just as reckless as the starving artist."

Dedede took one step forward, but moved back when the orchid block inched forward and sent ripples through the ground. After walking through the hole, he strained to see what was hidden by the huge tank before him. He looked to Waddle Dee, who was just as confused. "Do you think the artist started working with clay?"

"Never mind what it is." Ribbon flew to the top of the clay tank and beckoned the others to follow.

Kirby bounced off of Waddle Dee to propel himself into the air, but flapped up and down when he saw the awaiting water and hungry Flopper fish. He floated with ease to avoid falling into the water, but paid no attention to the caves on his left and ended up in a Glom's mouth.

King Dedede brought himself up after Waddle. "Hey, where's the puffball? He came before us, right?" After five seconds, Dedede shrugged and jumped into the water. He began swimming to the other side, but something knocked the wind out of him: Kirby at one hundred miles an hour when the Glom spit him back out.

Waddle Dee jumped to the other side of the tank alongside Ribbon. In the tank, Kirby and Dedede did cartwheels, back flips, and spins as they were tossed around the tank until Dedede grabbed Kirby by one of his shoes and hoisted him onto dry land. Ribbon shook her head. "No shard?"

"Nothing, but that Glom stole my missiles and now I don't have anything!"

The awaiting room was accompanied by the sound of crunching gears as giant colored nuts and bolts stacked on top of one another. Kirby approached one of the overturned gears, but jumped back when a Cairn creature sprung forward from the hole. Before all three of its parts could go back down, the Cairn was overcome by harsh winds and found its way into Kirby's stomach. "Rock does a lot of good in the snow, I think."

Dedede smashed another Sawyer saw and tiptoed to a gear. With a feral yell, he brought his hammer down to the opening, much to the horror of a hidden starving artist. "_Wait a second, I'm not evil! Don't smash me!"_

Dedede's hammer stopped three inches away from splitting Adeleine's face. It would just take one good whack to set her straight, but he sighed and put his hammer when he remembered that beating the artist around was Ribbon's job.

And Ribbon exercised that right when she seized Adeleine by the ear and set her by the exit. There was more confusion on her face than anger. "How did you get out of that room?"

Adeleine shrugged. "I drilled my way out."

"And that worked?" Dedede asked, only getting a nod out of Adeleine before looking around. Where'd Kirby go?"

Kirby, enjoying the drill he had created by throwing the rock power into a nearby Punc, was mesmerized by the scratching lines on several star TVs. "Hey, guys, the show's about to start!"

Dedede groaned and grabbed a screaming Kirby just as the static on the televisions started to clear. The last thing Kirby heard before being dragged through the corridor was something about a man did something "best at N.M.E." and how it must be done "with a money back guarantee."

In the next room, everyone sighed with relief at the sight of windows again. Adeleine walked forward first. "I told you we'd get out of here; now let's stop get out of here before-" Adeleine's victory speech was cut off when a cannonball smacked her in the forehead. She leapt behind one of the purple pieces of glass and winced every time a cannonball hit the glass with resounding force.

The three cannonballs in the center of the room fired one after the other, almost nailing a perfect shot each time. Kirby leapt over boxes and pieces and more than once almost ended up with a bruise on his face. He jumped into the air and shot a drill at the cannonball, but the drill bounced off of the cannon and hit Waddle Dee in the face.

"Run towards the elevator!" Ribbon pointed towards the awaiting elevator doors as everyone rushed in and tried to regain control of their breathing. "Is everyone alive?"

Adeleine stretched her back. "I've been better."

As the elevator began its descent, Adeleine noticed Ribbon clutching the shard and muttering something under her breath about "I have to do this."

"Are you all right?" Ribbon rushed to the edge of the elevator when Adeleine approached her.

Ribbon blew a few strands of hair out of her face. "I…I'm fine, Adeleine."

Dedede yawned as the elevator doors parted and revealed the outside world and everlasting snow. "Good, I was starting to draw up my wish list."

Everyone stepped back into the refrigerator and looked around for some form of life or shard, but nothing. The snow was still heavy and coming down, to Adeleine's discomfort. She painted herself another sweater. "We can't stay outside forever, I'll freeze. What we need is a nice and warm toy factory." Adeleine winced when Ribbon slapped her on the back of her head.

"What are you looking at, Kirby?"

Kirby was peering down an open manhole cover. "I thought I heard something, but it was probably nothing. Is the shard reacting?"

Ribbon checked the shard; a minimal shake, but nothing extraordinary. "A little." Before Ribbon could say more, Adeleine pushed her aside and clutched her new fangled sled.

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go sledding!"

Adeleine's only response was the wind humming as Dedede grabbed the sled and broke it in two. "_No_, now do me a favor and don't look down."

"Why?"

Adeleine approached the manhole on her hands and knees and thought she heard something, too. All of a sudden, with a bump, she found it getting darker and louder until she realized that she had been pushed down. Kicking her legs and scrambling for her art supplies, Adeleine's scream was amplified by the manhole cover.

Kirby, Waddle Dee, and Ribbon, before climbing down the convenient ladder, looked at an adamant Dedede, who stood with his shoulders crossed.

"I told her not to look."


	24. Distasteful Forces

Phazon: I did not forget. I have a life, too. Let's get to it.

--

**Distasteful Forces**

Did Adeleine die? Her head crashed against a rail during her fall and knocked her unconscious for ten seconds before she realized she had survived the fall. Eyes fluttering to life, Adeleine clutched her easel, but could not keep her hands from shaking. The pounding pistons and grinding gears ran from ear to ear as she edged herself in a corner and tried to block out the pungent sulfur drifting in her nose.

"Am I…in the _bad_ place?"

"No." Dedede's voice rang as he climbed off of the ladder. "You just don't listen."

The eardrum shattering hum of a drill drowned Adeleine's response. She looked up and saw Waddle Dee and Kirby riding a drill. Adeleine leapt out of the way and onto a nearby metal stand. "Kirby, where did you _get_ that thing?!"

Once the drill stopped spinning and Kirby returned to normal, he jumped onto the stand. "I found a few critters outside. Plus…" he paused to admire the glistening machinery and odd hand thingies that moved by themselves, "…a drill fits well here." He edged down the stand, but his shoe got caught in a nearby Rockn: blue and yellow rockets that had no sense of direction. Kirby watched the Rockn drag him towards the wall. "Hey, do you mind?!"

The Rockn, annoyed at Kirby's impatience, increased speed. The impact caused it to detonate and the explosion shot Kirby down several levels. He bounced around like a pinball, crashed through a frightened Burnis bird, and landed atop a Shotzo cannon.

Waddle Dee descended Adeleine's makeshift ladder and rushed to Kirby's side. "Hey, Kirby, Ribbon says the shard's starting to react again…Kirby?"

The world still spun and Kirby resisted the urge to talk to seven Waddle Dees. He pushed forward and shot out a drill. Waddle Dee dodged just in time for the drill to spin through the gated corridor. Kirby frowned when he realized that the drill would just disappear like the last ones, but it didn't. The drill bore into the tan and orange box until the box broke into splinters and dust.

"Drat! A dead end." Waddle Dee looked to Kirby. "Well, no shard, I guess."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ribbon replied, the Shard still vibrating.

Kirby climbed down to the next level and had to rub his eyes to make sure he saw what he saw. The tan and orange box winked, almost mocking him. _You thought you'd finished me, but I wanted to have some more fun_, it seemed to say. Seething at the thought of going back in time and ending up five seconds earlier, Kirby fired another drill, but the block shattered again. He poked around to make sure he hadn't gone back in time again before descending to the next level. "Oh, come on! Not again!"

Ribbon squinted to make out the blurry image at the end of the alcove. "It's another one of-"

_"I can see it!"_ Kirby ignored the cannons bouncing off of his body and charged. The drill, attached to him, revolved over and over until it bore a hole in the block. Adeleine thought she heard the faint sound of laughter, but shook it off when she climbed down to the next level.

"Hey, you guys! There's no block here!" Adeleine motioned for them to join her, but before she could crawl into the alcove, she felt one of Dedede's flippers on her face throw her backwards. Her head crashed against the cannon with a resounding _thump_. It wobbled back and forth until Waddle Dee jumped off of Adeleine's hat and into the alcove. As the others crawled into the extended cubby, Adeleine peered over the side. Her beaming eyes went well with the childish grin now on her face.

Kirby strained to grab the shard floating at the top of the ladder, but Ribbon zipped past him and added the fragment to the Crystal Shard. A dangerous _whirrrrr_ buzzed for a few seconds before the Shard lost its glow again. Ribbon stared at the growing jewel. _Just a few more_. As she descended the ladder, she looked at her reflection in the fragment and thought of Queen Gretchen, Dixie…the world she once knew. No! The world she _still _knew and would save once she located every fragment.

It took Dedede no time to guess where Adeleine had gone. He leaned over the side and saw Adeleine sitting on her easel as the emerald green conveyor belt rode her into darkness. A Hack hammer huffed and puffed to split Adeleine down the middle for interrupting its personal space, but Dedede decided that was his job. He jumped off of the rail, his coat coming inside out like an umbrella, and smashed the hammer under his flipper.

As the conveyor belt crept along and everyone passed under the entrance, Kirby felt a sudden jolt in his stomach that brought the elemental crystal up and warbling against his mouth until he spat it against Dedede's coat. The king whirled around when he felt his robe defiled. "You pink…pudgy..._thing!_ How could you-"

A thundering _boom_ interrupted Dedede's and had him jittering from head to flipper. The cherry red hammers came first, but the jagged smiles and cerulean eyes of the leering robots smashing in unison had Adeleine step back towards the entrance. Ribbon grabbed Adeleine's collar before she could get far, while Dedede tipped his hat and pulled out his hammer.

"Well, this is why they call me the King." He led the way and ignored Adeleine's questioning of "Who are _they_?"

Dedede reeled back his arm and brought the hammer down on the steel door. A crack stretched to all four corners of the barrier, but Dedede shook his head, puckered his beak, and slammed the door in two as metal flew everywhere. After clearing clutter from his hammer, Dedede looked to the others. "Well, come on."

Dedede was careful not to drop Kirby, who clung onto his robe for his life. He stopped before a steel barrier as the grinning robot's left eye focused on Adeleine for a few seconds. The robot brought down the hammer as Adeleine's legs quivered even before the hammer hit the conveyor belts. She ran to Dedede's side.

"I say we run."

"We're not going anywhere, artist. We're getting through here no matter what."

Well, Adeleine just threw her hands into the air. "That's what I _said_. We run at full speed without even thinking."

Everyone looked to one another and gave it thought. Was Adeleine a kid genius or just a scared out of her wit girl trying to avoid getting her head flattened? When Dedede told Kirby to hold on as he spun his hammer, everyone went for the second choice.

"The second that hammer comes down…" Dedede whispered, "…_run_!"

The robot's hammer inched up at a slug's pace until it reached the top with a _clang_, locking it in place. Its eyes cranked to the right with great anticipation while Dedede's hammer almost slipped from his flippers. Ribbon's wings stopped fluttering, Adeleine had squeezed all of the green paint out of one tube, and Kirby almost pulled out a foot's worth of Dedede's robe.

_SLAM!_

The hammer came down and created a dent in the conveyor belt. Dedede dashed towards the steel door and smashed like a madman looking for his victim. Without a second thought and a shrill yell piercing everyone's ears but his, Dedede smashed ahead. Inattentive Bouncy springs came too low as several pairs of feet flattened them.

Adeleine held onto her hat with one hand and kept her skirt from flying with the other.

The battle cries eclipsed Kirby's screams as he began losing his grip on Dedede's robe. The wind rushed in his mouth and could have torn off his shade of pink.

_SLAM!_ _SLAM!_

As Ribbon hastened through the steel door, she felt something clawing at her right wing. At first, she thought one of the robots had hammered it off, but it was nothing but a Fishbone. Wait? _A fishbone?_

Dedede slowed down when Ribbon's cry overtook the group cry. "What is it?!"

"Keep your eyes in front!" Kirby insisted, tugging on Dedede's robe.

"Kirby, the fairy's supposed to be your friend!"

"No!" Kirby shook. "I mean _look ahead!_"

When Dedede did, it was too late. The first spike from the glaring Gordo caught Dedede in the stomach, causing pain to shoot from his mouth. During his frenzy, he sidestepped to the right to avoid the spikes, but Adeleine bumped into him, Waddle Dee into _her_, causing the four to tumble forward and slam into a wall.

Birds sang in Adeleine's ears while a dark circle shrunk until it vanished. Adeleine's eyes flickered for a few seconds, but when she saw the robot's grin widen, her eyes doubled to the size of dinner plates. Her scream had enough earth shattering power to break through the steel door, which saved her life as she gathered the strength to push Kirby, Waddle Dee, and Dedede past the opening, out of the hammer's reach, and under the next laughing Gordo.

Ribbon kept her head down and voice low as she floated to Waddle Dee's side. "Um…I rid of the fishbone."

Everyone kept their pace, but Dedede abandoned the idea of running like a mad penguin if he could end up flattened. As he led them past another robot, Dedede paused when he heard a soft buzzing. At first, he thought the power died, but Dedede looked up and saw the pincers of a Turbis: purple spheres with four metal electric teeth. As the Turbis leapt from the ceiling lamp, Dedede spun on one flipper and cracked the Turbis open with his hammer. A second one teased him, but Dedede grabbed it and, to keep from snapping someone in two, he broke each tooth off of the Turbis and left it in a smoldering heap.

Waddle Dee jumped for joy when the conveyor belt ended. "Ha! No more fighting, smashing robots!" For the first time in a few minutes, which felt like hours to him, Waddle Dee stepped on solid metal. He collapsed to the floor as he tried to get his breath back. _Nothing like Pop Star_, he thought. _No trees…no streams, robots!_ As Waddle lamented on what he did not have, he did not realize his body was moving by itself.

"Waddle, move!" Kirby yelled as he ran after Waddle Dee. Before Kirby could catch him, he began slowing down. He looked at the red conveyor belts and frowned when they continued running in the opposite direction. Puffing up, Kirby held his breath and ran as fast as he could.

Everyone ran against the red conveyor belts except Adeleine, who focused on the massive tanks. The glob of pink swimming _in_ the tank winked at Adeleine, causing her eye to twitch as she looked to the others. "Okay, am I the only one who noticed the swimming pig?" When no one answered, Adeleine shrugged and caught up to them.

A Flora: pink flowers that popped from their stems and spiraled down to earth, landed atop Dedede's hat. He removed the interference, but a few feet from where he threw it, an I3 cube descended and flattened the flower. After leading the others past the cube, Dedede blinked twice, trying to stomach what he had just seen, and turning to the others. "I think I just saved our lives, so bow down and wor-" Before Dedede could finish, Kirby cut him off and grabbed the metal plume that almost took Dedede's head.

The plume twirled back into the Sir Kibble knight's hand. "So, the fairy is still alive? Well, _he_ didn't set me here for nothing." The knight eyed Ribbon and pulled back its arm.

When the Knight threw its plume, Kirby charged and engulfed both the plume and Knight in one gulf. He groaned as the Knight tried to fight its way out of Kirby's stomach, but with one pat in the gut, the Knight gave up its power and Kirby smiled again.

"Yeah, so it's just down the hall?" Waddle Dee asked the nearby Gordo before turning to the others. "Hey, you guys! This guy says he saw something shiny fly past here three days ago!"

"Well then, let's go!"

Kirby, Dedede, and Ribbon climbed onto the next level, but Adeleine was still lost. She felt a sharp pain cut her in the neck as her face remained locked with what looked like a mad scientist's lab. Amidst the crunching corkscrews and jumping joints, yellow stars drifted in tanks and the goldenrod eyes of an uninterested cat seemed to jump out at Adeleine from behind the tank. She shivered and ran to Waddle Dee's side, tugging at his foot.

"What?"

"All right, _cat_ staring at me! And…where's Kirby?" Adeleine looked around, but could not find him. Waddle Dee pointed up.

Kirby hung onto one of the wheels of a filtration tank with an emerald gem in his hand. He groaned as he tried to throw it at the buzzing Turbis, but every time he tried to throw the elemental crystal, sparks sputtered from the Turbis' teeth.

Adeleine rolled her eyes, thinking she knew it all. _Since when does lightning go with a boomerang?_ The sound of glass shattering brought Adeleine out of her thoughts when she looked up. Her eye twitched as Kirby floated down with a green and yellow crystal in his hand before. Before Adeleine could ask anything, Kirby swallowed the crystal and walked through the passage. Adeleine ran to catch up to him, but she bumped into Waddle, who tried as hard as he could to maintain his balance at the edge of the path.

Ribbon felt the heat of Neo Star's volcano return as beads of sweat raced down her forehead. Her breath came out in great, labored puffs as she loosened the collar of her skirt to release some steam. With each stone dropped, Ribbon fell closer to the ground as the oasis that had been the underground factory now became a raging inferno.

Kirby saw the flames drop off of the giant Burnis' wings as the bird dropped stones into the lava, causing small waves to splash the chains that held a small platform in place. Chains rattled as each boulder smashed into the lava, all the way up to where Kirby stood. He turned around to the others, who looked at him as if they all had the same idea. "_Me_?"

"You're the only one who can climb back up here without getting fried," Waddle Dee explained. "Ribbon's gotta protect the shard, Dedede can't jump that high, and Adeleine isn't smart enough to beat that thing."

"Yeah, and I'm not smart enough…" Adeleine paused, looked at Waddle Dee, and made a sour face. "Hey, shut up!"

"Besides," Dedede continued, "something might pop out of this cage, so we should be ready up here."

At first, Kirby thought the lime and lemon gated cage would spring to life, but the Burnis was more important. He took a deep breath and leapt into the air. As wind whipped his feet back, Kirby bounced off of the metal and landed.

Ripples of heat hit Kirby from all over. He found himself short of breath and nowhere to run as the lava poured from every steel gate surrounding him. The Burnis emerged from the left as Kirby grunted in an attempt to use his new power. Again and again with no luck. Frustrated, Kirby dug into his mouth and instead of pulling out the Kibble knight, a beam of light emerged. An unending buzz accompanied the double edged beam as Kirby swung it. He smiled at the saber's weight, as light as a feather.

As the flutter of the Burnis' wings grew, Kirby grinned and embraced the force. He leapt into the air, spinning the saber in his hands, and sliced through the Burnis' beak. The Burnis let out a savage yell as lava poured from its innards and spilled onto the platform. Boulders spewed without the Burnis' command as the fowl's screech echoed throughout the chamber. The left wing swerved and severed one of the chains holding the platform in place.

The ground groaned as Kirby leaned to one side of the platform. Magma chewed away at the concrete with a _hiss_ while the Burnis staggered into a lava infested cove. Kirby's heart pounded in his chest like a war drum. His grip on the chain began to falter as the magma continued to eat at the steel.

Flames leapt out of the cove as the Burnis appeared again. Streaks of bright orange and red jumped around the feathered fowl. Without its tongue, the Burnis' yell came out strained and repressed like a tortured test subject. Its right wing cut through the steam and one of the chains.

"_Whoa!_" Kirby's body dropped three feet. Lava rose up to meet him as he leapt to the opposite chain. The war drum in his heart now beat faster as he withdrew the double edged saber. He closed his eyes and waited as the Burnis reemerged from the cove. _Three_…

The Burnis' eyes warbled as it jerked around, trying to regain its ability to yell.

_Two…_

Once the fowl spotted Kirby, it launched like a missile to sever the last chain.

_Oh, forget it!_ Kirby sprung forward with the beam behind him. As the Burnis opened its mouth, Kirby spun the saber three times before swinging it with all of his might. With a _swish_, the beam shredded Burnis' wings. As Kirby landed on the platform, the flames on the Burnis died as the bird's skin melted and slurred in different directions. Noticing the chain reaction, Kirby shot up the last chain as the Burnis fell in a gush of brilliant red. Flames raced up the chain after Kirby.

Kirby jumped from the chain to the platform as flames ate the rest of the metal and sent the platform plummeting into the lava. Kirby backed up to catch his breath, but a twinkling light got his attention. Behind the lemon and lime cage was a Shard fragment. Before anyone could ask how to get it, Kirby chuckled and embraced the force. Ignoring the hole he put in Adeleine's cap, Kirby leapt forward, cut through the bars a, and landed on the opposite platform as the bars loosened and fell in the lava.

"All right…" Waddle Dee muttered, "But how do _we_ get across?"

Ribbon, while grabbing the shard, flew over to Kirby's side.

"We _don't_ all have wings! Some of us-" Waddle Dee was cut off when Dedede hoisted him and Adeleine into the air. "W-wait, what are you doing?!"

"Teaching you how to fly," Dedede responded before catapulting Waddle and Adeleine across like bullets.

The two didn't have time to recover. They scrambled through the door to avoid Dedede when he jumped across while using his robe as a parachute.

--

Computers beeped, gears moaned and robots sprung up and down like accordions as everyone entered the chamber.

"Come on, you guys! What could be so scary about this place now?"

"Falling ceiling?"

Adeleine's eyes drifted up as the ceiling came down. A Spark-i, once the ceiling rose, floated along to reach the clearing, but the ceiling flattened it and sent its parts flying. It had no chance to scream once the ceiling bludgeoned it like a sheet of paper. Adeleine's heart sank. "All right…let's go back." She turned around and walked straight into Dedede's stomach.

"We're going to run again, artist."

Adeleine stood up and straightened her hat as the ceiling came down again. "You know, I have a name."

"Yeah. It's 'artist.'"

"Well you're a…" Adeleine searched for the worst words in her vocabulary bank: "…fat bird."

A shadow fell over Dedede's face as he withdrew his hammer. "You say something about my weight, artist?" He didn't give Adeleine time to respond; he grabbed her head and stuck it on the floor where the ceiling would land. Adeleine struggled and fought to escape Dedede's iron grip, but her head remained locked in place. Before the ceiling crushed Adeleine's head, Dedede pulled her back to eye level. "I'm not fat! I'm husky!"

"Will you two hurry up?!"

Dedede and Adeleine looked ahead and saw Kirby, Waddle Dee and Ribbon slipping into a clearing. Once the ceiling rose, the two whisked over to their side.

Ribbon watched the ceiling descend and waited three…four…after five seconds, the ceiling rose again. "We have to time this just right. Unless you want to get flattened, wait for my signal. And when I say so, _stop_!" One…two…three…four…five… "Go!"

Feet clanged on the metal as the five ducked and dodged cannonballs in order to fit into the cubbies. At the sound of the gears stopping, they picked up the pace when the shadows beneath them grew.

"_Stop!_"

Adeleine shivered. _It's a sign. The art goddesses are smiting us!_

Like a game of Red Light, Green Light, everyone froze. The _hum_ of the ceiling grew until the ceiling sat inches from Dedede's cap. A bead of sweat ran down the king's forehead and exploded with tremendous force as it hit the metal. The explosion rang in Adeleine's ears as she whirled around and tapped Dedede's beak.

"Be quiet! It'll hear us!"

"Ceilings don't _hear_, artist!"

"Oh, yeah? Then how do they make that whirring sound?"

"It's called mechanics!"

"Fat!"

"Artist!"

"We're leaving, you guys."

This time, Ribbon, Waddle Dee and Kirby left the room. Dedede and Adeleine felt the adrenaline pump through their feet as they rushed into alcoves like trenches and flew into the opening with Kirby and the others.

A Plugg: blue plugs that plug themselves into the ground, jumped back when Kirby entered the room and sent shots of electricity through the floor. A jolt ran through the ground and caused Adeleine's hair to stand on all ends. She shook until her eyes began to fade like a dim watt light bulb. The lightning stopped when Kirby held out the saber, absorbing the lightning until he leapt forward and sliced the Plugg in two.

"You know, I think you're doing that to show off," Ribbon commented, putting her hands on her hips.

But Kirby ignored Ribbon and walked on until he reached a point where shadows traced lines over his body. He looked up as light passed through the gates and, as he did, turned in Ribbon's direction when the Shard began to react.

As the others made their way under the grating, Adeleine frowned while staring at the narrow openings. "We can't fit through that. We'd have to be string cheese to fit."

"Hmm…" Dedede mused as he stared at the gate and his hammer. He swung his arm back and forth and launched his hammer into the air. The blunt end shattered the gates and caused metal to rain on Adeleine's head. Dedede just smiled. "You were saying?"

Kirby and Ribbon made their way up, while Dedede relied on the catapult method to rocket Adeleine and Waddle Dee. The King held his breath, sucking in as much air as he could, and jumped through the opening. Adeleine decided, for her head's sake, to question Dedede's weight later. When Kirby took five steps, he stopped when he heard metal scraping against the ceiling.

"Am I the only one who sees the wall getting closer?" Adeleine asked, scratching her head.

Rays ran across the electric wall. When a Sawyer saw was not quick enough to escape, the wall split the Sawyer into thousands of pieces and separated it, bit by bit.

"Haunted electric walls!" Adeleine shrieked as she pushed Dedede to toss his hammer through the grating.

The grating shattered as the five continued. The wall on the next level stood still, but a robot's head poked from behind the wall and smiled. "_Hello_."

Again, the wall surged as the five ran or flew as fast as their legs or wings would let them. Kirby tried to give the Fishbone time to run, but it remained confident, even after the ceiling separated its bones.

"What kind of robot does that?!" Adeleine asked, holding onto her hat to keep it from flying back.

"An angry one," was Dedede's calm response as he launched his hammer through the grating. He fired Adeleine and Waddle Dee into the air before jumping through the opening. Once up, Dedede let out a sigh of relief that was blocked by Adeleine's gasp of fear when the robot's head appeared on the right side of the wall.

"But we just left you!" Adeleine cried as she pointed at the wall. Her attention then went to the bouncing Cairns. "Mr. Rock orbs, you're gonna get crushed if you don't run!" Still they bounced and Adeleine had to grab onto one of her paintbrushes. "Come on, I'm trying to be helpful!" A _clang_ brought Adeleine's focus up ahead where Dedede and Kirby made their way up another opening. "Hey, wait for me!"

As the Crystal Shard almost blinded Ribbon with its glow, she saw the corresponding glow at the end of the corridor. "There it is!" She flew over the Scarfy heads and grabbed the jewel while Dedede created a new opening. _Just a few more_, she thought as she headed through the former gate.

This time, a stone wall stood in their way. Adeleine looked to her left, where the wall closed in, and the right, where the stone wall remained still. She looked left and right, left and right, left and-

"Oh, will you just come up here?!" Waddle Dee snatched Adeleine's hand and hoisted her onto the wall as Kirby and Ribbon followed.

Dedede stopped himself from gasping as the electric wall made all of the loose hairs on his coat stand at attention. Ahead of him, another electric wall approached, but something tugged at him. He looked down and saw Adeleine screaming and refusing to let go of his leg.

"It's a sign! We must not pass!" Adeleine wailed like an infant as an electric wall on both side threatened to shred her to pieces.

The gears turned and axles ran against each other until they ached as Adeleine tried to imagine herself in a box. A nice, tight box closed away from scary electric walls that ripped rocks apart like Swiss cheese. Her arms shook and hands clamped so tight around her ears that she could almost touch her eardrum.

Then the turning stopped.

_I'm bored_.

_Me too._

The two robots murmured something else to each other before their legs ran in reverse. Adeleine removed her ears as the walls grew smaller and smaller until she could take one in the palm of her hand. "You think they're…good robots?"

Dedede scoffed as he hopped down and threw his hammer through the ceiling. "There's no such thing as a _good_ robot. I challenge you, artist, to name one good robot you know!"

Waddle Dee helped Adeleine up. The artist sighed when no more electric walls chasing her, just an annoying Zoos throwing thunderbolts. Waddle Dee jumped up and knocked the Zoos out of its cloud before Kirby could retrieve his saber. "To keep you from showing off," Waddle explained.

"Look!" Ribbon pointed to the elevator at the end of the lobby. "There's our way out of here and maybe out of this factory."

Everyone rushed towards the elevator and Kirby pressed the button to go up. A low hum grew as everyone felt their stomachs jump. The elevator began to ascend as Ribbon focused on the growing Shard.

_There can't be that many pieces left_. _Just wait, my Queen. I'll be there_, she looked to the others, remembering how far she had come, and back to the shard, _and it will all be over._

Waddle Dee's voice got Ribbon's attention. "Um, guys…did Shiver Star evolve while we were in the factory?"

Dedede scratched his head, Ribbon shrugged, Kirby looked around, and Adeleine didn't know what 'evolve' meant.

"Because I get the feeling we're not on Shiver Star anymore."

As the elevator ascended, a night blue and empty gray bathed all of the buildings as far as the eye could see. No snow, no gears or robots, no collapsing ceilings; just endless miles of indigo and silver as a calm cerulean bathed the sky.

The elevator stopped. Steam issued from the door as everyone walked onto the empty walkway. With each step, the silence thickened. Forget dropping a pin. Not even a child's scream could be heard from one end of the walkway to the other. Everyone's heartbeat drummed in unison like a marching brigade. With each step Kirby took, he looked to the side to see what whether or not the path would collapse.

Nothing happened.

Then something did.

A _rumble_, then a second _rumble_ rocked the path. Dedede clutched his hammer, Ribbon fluttered in the air, Kirby- to everyone's distaste- withdrew his saber, Waddle Dee looked aware, and Adeleine prepared her easel.

"Guys…" Adeleine murmured as her breath came out in visible puffs, "where is-"

Ribbon raised her hand to silence Adeleine as she waited. Seconds dissolved into minutes, which seemed to Adeleine like hours, but turned back into seconds as her heartbeat quickened its pace. Her eyes whirled to the right.

The glowing eye gazed back.

Then it came to life.

Jets fired with the sound of a thousand planes as tons of metal attached to the eye rose from the cities and stopped at the walkway's level. The roar of the engines raged as the fine machinery ran a target reticule over the five.

Kirby patted Ribbon over and over like searching for money until he caught her collar. "Ribbon! It's a giant robot! Do you know what this means?!"

Not knowing what to do, _how_ to respond, Ribbon said whatever popped into her head: "What does it mean?"

"It means I can see into the future!"


	25. HR H

**Chapter 25: HR-H**

-----------------------

_Target acquired. Destroy the warriors. Retrieve the shard. Kill the fairy._

The robot kept its eye trained on the fairy, dubbed "The Exile" by the dark one. Its arms swung backwards, crashing through buildings in the process, and leaned forward for one simple smash.

"_MOVE!!"_ Kirby and Waddle leapt as far right as possible as a violent rush of wind whooshed over their heads. One robotic arm almost took off Waddle's head, but just missed him. Dedede held up his hammer to try and block the right arm, but it slammed into him- causing his body to vibrate- and sending him soaring into Kirby.

Ribbon clung to Dedede's robe, but Adeleine…

"You guys, heeeelllllpppp meeeeeeeee!"

Waddle looked up and saw a speck of red and green sticking out near the edge of the robot's arm. "Ad, how'd you get up _there_?"

Of course Adeleine was too far away to hear anything other than the roar of the robot's jet engines. Some of her markers fell from her bag as she clung to the robot's arm for dear life. When the shuddering stopped, Adeleine let out a sigh of relief that soon stopped when the robot's arms flew forward again. The blood rushed to Adeleine's head as wind zipped through her hair and the right arm came into view.

As Adeleine shut her eyes, she heard the thunderous boom of the arms slamming together, causing her body to vibrate nonstop. The robot prepared for another smash when a yellow beam of light penetrated the left arm, causing it sizzle and hiss. Steam ran out of the arm's open sockets as Kirby withdrew the saber and motioned Adeleine to jump. When she did, her body continued to quiver in fear. Then a light scraping grew louder and louder until Adeleine turned around and saw the right arm rushed towards her.

"Don't just stand there, artist!" Dedede seized Adeleine's hand and dragged her further down the path while the arm continued blasting through the walkway. The piercing sound of metal scraping over the path mixed with violent electricity spurting from the left arm had Ribbon covering her ears as she flew to Kirby's side.

"It looks like you got it, Kirby, but how can it still move?"

"Please!" Waddle Dee pointed to the entire robot, not just the arm. "As big as this thing is, I mean look at it! It's as tall as Dedede's castle! You think that one little stab is gonna do it?!"

"Never mind that! Here it comes again!" Kirby pulled out the saber and leapt high as the left arm flew underneath. "Dedede, now!"

Dedede charged forward, pulled back his hammer, and jumped into the air. Rearing back, Dedede slammed the hammer into Kirby and catapulted him like a pinball. As Kirby ducked into a ball, he held the saber out with his right hand. He rolled along the air and towards the arm just as it came in for a reverse smack. At the last second, Kirby clung onto the arm, held the saber above his head and plunged it into the arm. Again, the robot's arm shook and clanged as more spurts of electricity ran through. Kirby prepared to leap off in triumph until the right hand swerved around and slammed into him. His body flew a rag doll as he soared across the runway until he regained his footing. He reared around and skidded to a halt on the path, the saber still in his hands.

"Hey, Dedede, launch me!" Waddle jumped high and prepared to be fired like a missile-

"_Wait!_"

-until a scream threw off his focus and he instead landed right in front of Dedede's hammer. Waddle Dee looked to Adeleine. "You ruined it! What do you want?!"

Adeleine just pointed to the robot.

Two side compartments opened and steam billowed. Seconds passed as the robot appeared to be gathering strength or preparing for liftoff, but four rockets emerged and shot into the air, their whistling growing louder and louder as they came closer into view.

"And here they come!" Dedede wound up his hammer and slammed it into one rocket. It spiraled in the distance, the whistling sputtering on and off while blending with the hum of the remaining missiles. Adeleine edged to her left at the last second as one rocket blasted through a section of the pathway. Her heart pounded as another missile flew towards her, but she hit the ground as Waddle Dee bounced off of her head and kicked the rocket into the last one.

Before Adeleine could thank Waddle, Kirby shoved her to the ground. The right arm swung past her head, almost taking Adeleine's hat with her.

As the robot's arms retreated to its sides, it scanned the pathway as the five stared back. With a growing rumble, the robot leaned backwards- its arms extending outward- and leaned forward. The arms raced towards each other and slammed together with a deafening _boom_ that rang throughout.

Kirby leapt onto the right arm, but as he prepared to withdraw the saber, the robot's arms ascended and slammed the ground several times, scattering miniscule crystals that dropped from the end of the arms. "What is this thing?!" Kirby tried to keep his footing, but kept nearing the arm's edge. He pulled out the saber and plunged it into the arms while still together. More short-circuiting followed as a yellow hue appeared on and off until the arms returned to their normal color.

Again, the robot's arms crashed and clanged on the path, threatening to break it.

Ribbon whisked to her right, her wings fluttering as fast as they could as she tried to avoid the growing shadow chasing her. She could almost feel the hard metal smash into her before everything stopped. She paused, turned around, and saw the light beam sticking through the center of the left arm.

Seconds later, the robot's apex exploded. The eye remained, yet the covering around it shattered.

"Yipee!" Adeleine threw her hands in the air as excitement rang in her voice. "You did it!"

The robot's eye wandered over the five for ten long seconds. Blue flames shot from below as the towering machine soared into the air. The eye scanned for a landing zone and zeroed in on the exile. The jets powered down as the ground came closer and closer into range. The pathway _shook_ as the jet engines swerved behind the robot. Like a rubix cube, the robot turned, swerved, and reconfigured until it situated itself on the pathway. As the arms returned to the front, the robot's eye wandered to the girl with the red cap as she scoffed at the transformation.

"It went from a cheap robot to a broken one! What's it gonna do now?"

As the robot inched closer, its arms turned on their sides and both ends sharpened to a fine point. Both arms split down the middle and cut right down the middle, inches away from Adeleine's hat.

"Well, I think that's reason enough to be afraid." Adeleine turned around, calm as a clam as her face went white. "We're gonna get chopped in half!"

A quiet murmuring grew into a rumble as the robot began to inch forward. The path behind it crumbled beneath its weight as it kept moving.

Waddle Dee charged forward again. "Well, we can't turn back now! It's not firing a laser or anything, so we should be fine." He ran as fast as his little legs let him.

The robot rose a few feet above the platform and gave birth to another missile.

Still charging, Waddle Dee leapt onto the missile and sprung forward to nail the robot at its center, but instead bounced right back upon impact. He soared around and around until he spun back to Kirby's side.

Kirby took Waddle Dee's hint and charged forward. The saber hummed in his hands as he leapt for another slash when the robot's arms all of a sudden moved back to the robot's side and the machine flew back into the air. "Make up your mind!" Kirby yelled to the air. He soon regretted his words when the robot's jets stopped and the machine sped towards the ground at a faster pace. As the robot came in for a landing, Kirby decided against going back since the end continued to collapse. He caught up to the others just as the robot crashed down and slid backwards. The arms sharpened again.

When Kirby rushed again, he leapt over the blade a second before it could sever him. Two slashes at the robot's center caused the machine to warble and glow, but Kirby bore the brunt of the impact when a missile emerged from below. He tumbled down, down, down, pain racking his body as he bumped into Ribbon.

"My turn!" Adeleine didn't give anyone a chance to protest or stop her as she painted a missile similar to the one the robot fired. The missile slipped into her hands, but she turned her attention to Waddle Dee. "What are ya waiting for?! Get ready for the kick!"

As if he had forgotten, Waddle snapped back to reality and ran after the artist. As Adeleine threw the missile above her head, Waddle Dee charged, jumped over her, and kicked the projectile straight into the robot's center. Smoke drifted from one of the blades and both arms began losing speed as Waddle heard the sound of electricity crackling. "Kirby, hurry up and finish this thing before it blows!"

"I'm on it!" Kirby didn't waste another second. He retrieved the saber one last time and charged with a yell. The light beam sliced through another missile as Kirby leapt into the air. Five seconds and the robot came closer into view. Four and the beam extended. Three, two, a bit of light pierced the exterior of the robot. One…

The robot stopped. It collapsed to the ground with a _slam_. Brilliant explosions rang from all sides of the robot as it caught ablaze. The arms scratched across the pathway until one disconnected and fell into the darkness below.

Something glistening slipped from one of the robot's hatches. Ribbon eyed the shard for a second before her eyes lit up in excitement as she went for the jewel. _That's another one_. Just a few more left…and she knew where they were. The warm glow of the shard gave her hope, but filled her with dread when she realized where she was headed next. Before she could make her announcement, Ribbon saw the others running towards the end of the path.

"Come on, Ribbon!" Kirby called to her. "We're going back down to the hills!"

"Oh, right…of course."

--------------------

Adeleine kicked a clump of snow before Dedede could sit down. "So a giant robot can live all the way in the sky? Why didn't it just come down here and face us like a true robot?"

"You don't know what a _true_ robot is, artist."

"Know what, duck? I'm tired of you making fun of me and calling me an artist!"

"I'm a _penguin_!"

"Guys," Kirby cut the two off before they could start fighting, "we should focus on where we go from here. I mean, that robot handed over that big shard, so there can't be any left here that we wouldn't have found."

"But where else are we supposed to look?"

The Crystal Shard shined again. The light aura surrounding the crystal began to expand until it took the shape of a star. The planet displayed…

Ribbon felt short of breath and fought back her tears.

Ripple Star…beloved Ripple Star was before her. Darkness engulfed the heart; evil had spread to every end of the once peaceful, joyous planet. The planet that gave off feelings of delight and unspeakable gladness had died. A new planet, a vile and repulsive planet, took its place as the once thriving civilization, day by day, second by second, was being devoured by Dark Matter.

And it was her planet…her responsibility, _her_ mission.

Not _their_ mission.

Ribbon looked out the corner of her eye- so no one would see her puffy eyes- and saw the others looking either confused or waiting for her to say something.

_She_ had been given the responsibility of getting the Crystal Shard away from Dark Matter and she failed. Even so, she had come this far and now she had to head back. _Her_, not _them._

"Listen…everyone," she spoke slow to mask the emotion in her voice, "if it's fine with you all, I would like the Crystal Shard to take you back to Pop Star. I can handle everything else on my one."

She waited with still breathing, her breath coming out in larger visible puffs. Her heart beat quickened and grew louder as the sight of her planet in disarray tore her apart.

"What?" Adeleine threatened to march forward, but Waddle Dee held her back. "What do you mean take us back to Pop Star? Aren't we going with you?"

Kirby and Dedede just stared.

"We _did_ come this far, Ribbon," Waddle Dee added, "and I'd hate to cut off an adventure just when it was about to get good."

"_No_." Ribbon was more forceful, but the choking back of tears became too much. "Ri-Ripple Star is…_my_ planet. I won't put you in danger. The people suffering there are _my_ people, not yours! It's _my_ duty to save them from death!

_Ribbon took one last look over her shoulder and clutched the Crystal Shard. The Dark Matter continued their attack on her planet, devouring her friends, the Queen, everyone! Her wings fluttered through the edges of space as she avoided Dark Matter._

_Then pain burned in her body as she saw the Shard scatter into tiny fragments and scatter throughout the universe. One came within her grasp, but the closer she got, the further away it became. Her fingers came closer and closer, but she never reached it._

_Then the breathing stopped._

"They trusted me with this Shard and I couldn't even get away without being attacked! You think I'll let you put your life in danger?! It's _my_ duty! Even though I couldn't save my queen…or stop Dark Matter from coming after me, I _must_ protect them!"

"But, Ribbon-"

"SHUT UP!" Ribbon whirled around, tears now streaming down her face without pause. "I don't want your pity or your sympathy! _I'm_ the one that was entrusted with the Shard, _I'm_ the one who failed, and _I'm_ the one who has to make things better again! Spare me your sympathy and just go home!" Ribbon lowered to the ground, the image of Ripple Star covered in darkness became too much to ignore. Before she could collapse in a pool of her tears, snow hit her in the face and stopped her fit.

At last, Dedede spoke. "You _idiot!_"

"Come on, Dedede-"

"No, artist, I'm sick of her complaining! Guess what, Ribbon? You. Can't. Do. This. A-lone. _You're_ just one person. _You're_ going to need help and we're gonna do that! I don't care what excuse you have. We've been through this since the beginning and if you think we're just gonna back out because you think you can do this by yourself, you're crazy!" Dedede took a minute to regain his composure; his chest shooting back and forth like it would explode. "We're not doing this because we feel sorry for you! We're doing it because we think you're brave! Not everyone would keep going like you did. You could've given up whenever you wanted, but you kept going anyway! _That's_ why we're going with you to Ripple Star and kicking that Dark Matter right in its behind!"

Adeleine and Waddle Dee nodded, but everyone looked to Kirby, who had remained silent the entire time. He cleared his throat and gave Ribbon a fierce smile. "Ribbon, I told you from the beginning that I'd help you save your planet and that's what I'm gonna do!" He paused and looked to the others. "I sympathize with you, but I will _not_ risk my life on that alone!"

Ribbon gulped, words stuck in her throat for dear life. She looked to the others, who appeared ready for battle, then back to her infested planet. She _did_ need them. She _couldn't_ do this alone. She needed her friends, she needed help, and she needed to have faith.

"_Have faith that you will succeed, Ribbon. There is always hope is you believe you'll succeed." Ribbon felt Queen Gretchen's hand clasp her still shaking hand. "Don't worry, we'll be safe and I know you'll be back. For the sake of Ripple Star, Ribbon, you've got to do it."_

The Queen's words resonated through Ribbon's heart and mind again. Eyes still puffy, still choking back tears, Ribbon lifted into the air and looked to her friends, her friends _eager_ to fight. They had been her through the shifting sands of Rock Star to the volcanoes of Neo Star to the waters of Aqua Star. She watched Waddle, Adeleine, and Dedede fall prey to Dark Matter, but- thanks to help from Kirby- turn away from the darkness and join her in the quest for Crystal Shards. She had endured arguments with Adeleine, avoided being burned alive, drowned, punctured, swallowed, and through it all, they had managed to gather many fragments of the Crystal Shard and keep their lives.

"I see." She looked to Ripple Star one more time, then to them. "Understand this: once we leave Shiver and head for Ripple, there's no turning back. What we may face on my planet will be unlike anything we've encountered thus far."

Waddle Dee, Adeleine, Dedede, and Kirby all nodded. Kirby charged forward. "Well, let's get GO-" He took a step too far and tripped face forward into the snow. Before he could remove himself, Kirby became a cushion to propel Adeleine, Waddle, and Dedede into the crystal.

"Oh, Kirby." Ribbon lifted Kirby by one of his feet and dragged him into the shard.

--------------

The Shard hovered between Shiver Star and Ripple Star's atmosphere. Ribbon gripped her hands, still shaking a bit, and tried to calm herself when Kirby placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked over and saw him nod. She nodded in return and looked to her planet. It would soon be a peaceful place once again. Upon Ribbon's signal, everyone braced themselves.

"Hold on! We're entering Ripple Star air space!"

The light shot towards the darkness.

The final battle was upon them.

----------------

It had many eyes. Eyes that saw all, yet eyes that saw none. One eye opened.

"She's on her way."

"Is she? When?"

A second eye opened. "Oh, very, _very_ soon!"

------------------

**Note:** Sorry for the wait, but I hope you enjoyed the read. I always wanted to expand on the scene where Ribbon sees Ripple Star covered in darkness. Yes, in the game she might not have told the others to go home, but I think it adds to her character and shows her frustration. Anyway, we're rounding the final bend, so stay tuned!

Next Time: Touchdown on Ripple Star!


	26. Touchdown on Ripple Star

**Chapter 26: Touchdown on Ripple Star**

-----------------------------

"Yes…everything is as predicted. The Shard is near its completion, the planet's inhabitants corrupted or left for dead, and the Star Warrior is bringing the jewel straight to me."

"But sire, I have been monitoring the activity of this, um…Kirby fellow, and he took out Pix by himself _and_ managed to uncover fragments our forces were unable to locate."

One bloodshot eye opened. The henchmen felt its blood go cold and feet planted in place as it watched- one by one- all of the eyes open.

"_Our_ forces?"

On instinct and for fear of being killed with just a blink, the henchmen dropped to his knee and stared into the endless veil of darkness. The air pressure thickened and he felt his lungs tighten as the shadows around him began to grow. "A-a thousand pardons, my lord. _Y-your_ forces, not those of a vagrant such as I."

Seconds dissolved into minutes as three eyes slammed shut. "You forget your place." Another eye opened. "Test my patience and you will die." Two closed, one opened. "You forget that I know all, can become all, _see_ all. There is no conceivable angle where the Star Warrior can surprise me. He shall not even make it this far. I consider it unjust that the beasts' of Pop, Rock, Aqua, Neo, and Shiver were able to duel the Warrior in combat when I was looking forward to staring into his face before he died."

"Sire?"

"Let him come. It matters not. The planet is beyond saving and all that matters now is the Shard." The remaining eyes closed. "Return to me with news of the death of the Star Warrior and his entourage or you shall meet death through me."

The henchmen shot to his feet. "Y-yes, sire! Right away!" And out he vanished.

All went silent again until one eye opened. "The plan is almost complete."

---------------------------

"This _wasn't_ you planned it!"

A glowing red fireball rocketed towards the infested Ripple Star. Meteorites and stars clung to the orb before being whipped off into space, a piercing hum threatened to rip apart everyone's eardrums, and Adeleine clutched her easel in fear. "We're all gonna die!!"

Ribbon kept her eyes trained on Ripple Star, precious, corrupted Ripple Star. The darkness stretched to almost every corner of the planet. For a moment, she shut her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, it would just be a horrible nightmare. The invasion and attack were just dreams, right?

_Her wings fluttered through space as fast as they could, but still they kept up with her. Ribbon felt her lungs catch on fire as she dodged one Dark Matter ball, a second, and a third- the Crystal Shard slipping from her grip._

"_For the planet…for the Queen…for everyone-"_

_Everything went white._

Her eyes shot open; Ripple Star was as dark as the day she left, but that ended today. No more running or crying. Ribbon's hands clutched the edge of the barrier as it prepared to penetrate the surface. "Everyone hold on! We're breaching the darkness!"

The barrier crashed against the thick, dark layer with a _clang_ as jolts of black electricity sparked without control in different directions. Dark Matter threatened to inch its way around the barrier, inching the sphere back towards space. The pressure between the light and darkness sent surrounding meteorites in a flying frenzy as they became attracted to the opposing forces. More darkness slithered from around Ripple Star and made its way towards the barrier. Bloodshot eyes peeked from beneath the darkness and focused on Ribbon.

_She returns with the shard. Corrupt her and return the jewel to him._

"We're gonna be stuck here forever!" Adeleine shook Waddle Dee up and down. "They're gonna keep us in space for the rest of our lives!"

"Guys, if we just push, I _know_ we can past it!"

Ribbon, Kirby, and Waddle- still dragging Adeleine- pressed against the barrier as hard as they could. Their arms began to wear, but the Dark Matter continued to press them back. After watching this pathetic show of strength, Dedede gathered his hammer and motioned for the others to clear a path.

"You guys are too slow and weak! You need _REAL_ power if you wanna break down a wall!" Dedede leaned back, held his hammer above his head, and slammed it with full force onto the barrier. The impact shot into the barrier like a cannonball fired at full force without warning as the shard burst through the darkness veil. All at once, the shard plunged past dark clouds through the crimson skies faster than ever.

Dedede turned towards the others. "Now what were you worried about?"

Before anyone could answer, Ribbon looked to her side. "Everyone…do you feel that?"

"Yeah, we're slowing down." Waddle Dee watched the incoming buildings grow in size as the shard slowed its descent.

The shard slowed more and more until it floated inches from the ground. Once there, it reverted back to its jewel form as it floated into Ribbon's hands.

As the five landed on the ground, they felt the air pressure around them increasing as darkness swirled overhead. The dead silence of Ripple Star punctuated the feeling of emptiness emanating from the now lifeless planet. Just one thing could be here: evil.

"Wow." Adeleine took off her hat and stared at the red sky. "This sure isn't Pop Star."

"Your queen runs a planet like _this_?" Dedede didn't try to hide the insulting tone of his voice; having lived in a lavish castle that never came under attack from Dark Matter.

Ribbon stared at the buildings, the _empty_ buildings. Where were her friends? Where was the kind mother fairy that always had trouble with her groceries? Had they all been corrupted or taken hostage? _Are you all alive?_ No! It was foolish of her to believe that their souls could be tainted. They had worked through sweat and tears to make the Crystal Shard pure and resistant to darkness. No one who had a hand in its creation would fall to evil.

To her left, Ribbon saw Queen Gretchen's castle- or what was left of it- in ruin. The gates had been torn apart, now in impossible twists and bends while the guard posts remained empty. _For so long I've been away from my home, yet each day has been spent dreaming of my return…but what is left?_ Ribbon's head dropped. She had a responsibility. She had made a promise that could not be broken.

She drifted towards several empty homes- doors ripped open and roofs torn to bits. _Where is Dixie? Where are all of the children who always played around the central fountain? Is this home?_

It was home, but objects once familiar now filled Ribbon with uncertainty and dread. A quiet howl from above caused her to quiver as she approached the almost bone-dry fountain. A red eye peeked out from a pool of black water and stared back at Ribbon before the fairy picked up a stone and flung it into the pool.

"Ribbon…"

Ribbon raised her hand to silence Waddle Dee. "I'm fine, just…give me a second." She placed the back of her left hand on her forehead and calmed herself. _Can I…we…do this? What if all of the shards aren't enough? Failure may not be an option, but it's still a possibility. How can-_ Before Ribbon could continue, she looked to her right and saw Kirby staring at the sky with expressionless eyes. _Is he so confident that he won't even speak?_

For a second, Kirby thought he saw Ribbon staring at him, but he kept his gaze on the sky until Ribbon got everyone's attention.

"Dark Matter continues to spread and corrupt the planet, but with the Shard, we still have a fighting chance. There is little time left, but whatever time we have must be used well. I know nothing about the core of Dark Matter or its life force." She looked to the castle again and thought she heard a voice, but no one came. "My kind…the planet's inhabitants are all but gone or corrupted by evil. I doubt any possibility that they are alive, but one thing is certain: if left as it is, the darkness will engulf all of Ripple Star, but I doubt it will end there." She turned to face the others. "At that point, it may spread to the rest of the galaxy until it swallows everything that has breath. I doubt Dark Matter knows any bounds, but it must not succeed. All that stands in its way is us."

The wind continued to howl as the message became clear. Everyone thought Kirby would be the one to speak, but it was Adeleine who groaned and shook her head. "Guys, are we _really_ ready to die here?"

"Adeleine, after everything you've been through, you're not allowed to fear death."

Adeleine turned to Kirby, who stared back at her with the same unmoving eyes.

"You already have your motive for being here, and we've been doing this since we started on Pop Star. You don't get to be afraid of dying because you've faced it many times already."

"If the plan of this Dark Matter is to cover the entire galaxy-" Waddle Dee began.

"Then we have to gather the rest of the shards-" Dedede continued.

"Clobber the Dark Matter and kick it out of the galaxy-" Kirby finished.

"But wait. Ribbon said that the people who live here are corrupted, but that doesn't mean they're dead. We can still find a way to save them first and _then_ deal with Dark Mat-"

"There's no time for that. If we save the fairies, Dark Matter will still exist. We find the Shards and get rid of Dark Matter and everything else will go back to the way it was. Even if we tried to save the others- and Ribbon, hate me all you want for this- Dark Matter will just go after others. If this…thing could take over an entire planet, what makes you think it'll stop and let us save a few people? I don't care if we run into witches or giant knives or have to run through rainbow colored fields. We're crushing Dark Matter before it can come after us."

Adeleine searched for an answer, but it never came.

"Right, so we've spent enough time finding these shards and beating everything thrown our way. We have to keep going forward from here."

_Oh, is that a fact?_

Ribbon whizzed around. Did she hear that? It came from…all directions, right? She looked towards the sky and saw the darkness parting. "What's this?" _Why is the sun coming out all of a sudden? Is the darkness that erratic?_

As the darkness began to fade, Kirby walked forward with Dedede and Waddle following behind. "Let's go, Ribbon. We've been planning long enough."

Waiting a few seconds, Ribbon watched Adeleine run after the others and waited until her wings began to move. Swallowing the lump in her throat, a newfound determination swept her body as she flew towards the others, but she spoke low so they could not hear her.

"Just wait, my Queen. Soon it will all be over."


	27. From Light to Dark

**Chapter 27: From Light to Dark**

-------------------------------

"Ribbon, you live on one strange planet", was all Adeleine could say to break the silence.

But the artist had a point: Ribbon had told the others that Dark Matter had corrupted Ripple Star to the point where darkness leaked from every crevice. The sun would no longer shine, the sky no longer clear, and birds would no longer sing their praises. So if this was true, how could Ribbon explain the sudden clearing of the sky and planet where a calm magenta sky, rainbow roads, and ginger ground replaced the silent streets and

"Yeah, two seconds ago, we couldn't see the sky and now I can see butterflies sleeping in the clouds? What kind of place is this?" Dedede asked before pounding a lone electric Plugg into the ground with his hammer.

Waddle Dee cleared a hurdle in time to grab the waiting. "Maybe Dark Matter can bend the environment to its own will and match whatever it wants. If it can take over an entire planet, making a planet change from night to day shouldn't be a problem."

Kirby couldn't put a finger on it, but this warped setting felt familiar to him. _Too_ familiar. Before he could say something, he felt a gaze burning into the back of his head. He turned around and saw a Scarfy whistling to itself. Kirby shrugged, began walking again, and whirled back around and saw the same Scarfy whistling. _Okay, I _know_ that thing is staring at me_, he thought to himself.

"Something wrong, Kirby?"

Kirby kept his eyes trained on the Scarfy for three more seconds before looking to Ribbon. "No, just, you ever feel like you ended up somewhere youve been before, but it wasn't the exact same place?"

"This _is_ her planet, Kirby. Of course she knows that feeling", Adeleine responded, cutting off Ribbon.

"I didnt mean"- Kirby tried to explain himself, but rushed forward and inhaled a Ghost Knight before it could skewer Adeleine with its lance. Kirbys body jutted in different directions for five seconds before he returned to normal.

Dedede turned around when he realized the others weren't keeping up. "You feeling all right, puffball?"

A beat, then pink needles shot out in all directions, piercing two Kacti and a screaming Bobo through the center.

"Right, so the new plan is to stay away from Kirby when angry," Waddle Dee suggested while he went on before bumping into Ribbon. "Whats the problem?"

Ribbon cradled the now vibrating shard. "There's a fragment nearby."

After jumping onto Dedede's back for a better look, Adeleine jumped down and frowned. "I don't see one. That Dark Matter stuff isnt so smart if it just left the pieces lying around on your planet."

"Ever hear of luring someone into a trap, artist?" Dedede asked while straightening his coat. "Either it thinks were too stupid to just grab something without expecting a trap or we could take the shard and boom, the planet explodes."

"It cant be _that_ intelligent," Waddle Dee argued. "How hard was it for us to find the shards so far?"

"But we didnt have to run around planets filled with sunshine, lollipops, and...is that a rainbow?!" Adeleine teetered on pulling out her hair in confusion at the shifting land, but regained her composure as she approached a three-rocked Cairn on a bridge. "Excuse me, Mr. Rock, but have you seen any shiny jewels around here?"

The Cairn continued bouncing up and down, down and up, up and down, until it landed atop Dedede's hammer. "Are you the one called Kirby?"

"No, that's me." Kirby pushed past Waddle and Dedede.

"The overlord spoke of you. He mentioned that you and that rebel fairy would try and spoil his plans and that you should be stopped at all costs. Let me warn you, star warrior, all creatures you faced before pale in comparison to I. Unlike my counterparts, I reveal no secrets, keep my allegiance to the overlord himself, and have no intention in assisting you locate the fragments you speak of. Now, if you would please-"

"Fair enough," Dedede mumbled before hauling the Cairn off of his hammer and into the running stream below the bridge. He watched the Cairns three parts split apart before dissolving in the water, but as he turned around, he took a step back at the gazes Ribbon and Adeleine gave him. "What? He was annoying. If he wasn't gonna help us, we don't need him."

"Good point," Kirby replied before clearing a hurdle and piercing two more suspicious looking Scarfy faces. After the needles retracted, Kirby pointed to the shining light between two Ghost Knights. "Well, there's your shard, Ribbon."

"All right, this is too easy." Dedede approached the Ghost Knight, sidestepped its lance, stole its shield, and flattened it into the ground before grabbing the shard and handing it to Ribbon. "We're so close to the Dark Matter, I can taste it. Why just leave random pieces lying around for us to find?" He looked past the stream ahead to find a giant white eyeball shaped house with bubbles shooting out of its top. And what the heck is that thing?!

"Who cares?" Kirby bounced across one Cairn and onto the other across the stream. "One more shard means were getting closer."

Waddle Dee, Adeleine, Dedede, and Ribbon entered after Kirby, though when the doors slammed shut, Dedede took one step too far and tripped on his now stuck coat. Annoyed, he tugged and tugged, but the coat remained stuck.

While Kirby watched the ceiling fan spin over and over again, Adeleine painted a pair of scissors that fell from the easel and into her hands. She rushed towards Dedede, but all of a sudden, a giant saw sliced through the ground before her. Wood shavings and loose screws flew through the air and onto Adeleine's shirt as she backed away to find the same Sawyer cutting away behind her.

As the saw returned beneath the ground again, Waddle Dee went for Dedede's hammer. "You're not using it now! Let me try it out!"

Kirby leapt backwards when the saws blades emerged again. He rolled into a ball as the needles extended from his body. Upon contact, the needles held the Sawyer in place.

"Outta my way! I'm the king now!" Waddle Dee charged, the hammer in his hands. He jumped into the air and slammed the hammer into the Sawyer. Several blades flew in different directions while others became jammed and tangled among other functioning blades. Before Waddle Dee could reel the hammer back for another smash, the Sawyer managed to retreat back into the ground.

Both Kirby and Waddle Dee listened for any sudden buzzing, but just heard the quiet whoosh of the overhead fan or the chirp of the fluttering Bronto Burt. They stood as still as words in a book as the sudden buzzing rang through their ears.

_Behind you._

The ground beneath Kirby crumbled as he dove to the right. Blades whirled in several directions and then moved at a slugs pace.

"Just one more smash!" Waddle Dee swung the hammer around and lopped off three blades. With a clang, sputter, and smash, the Sawyer spun slower and slower until all ends shattered under the hammers weight. The center of the Sawyer cracked open while a Shard fragment rolled over to Dedede's foot, but Adeleine snatched it first.

"If I could use a shard to turn myself into a saw and then an artist, I'd be so happy." She handed Ribbon the shard before rushing through the door.

"So I guess Pop Star doesn't count," Waddle Dee mumbled to himself as he tried to blur the image of Adeleine painting Dark Matter from his mind.

Dark Matter continued its game of environmental roulette with the sun burning like the volcanoes of Neo Star. Butterflies still danced with floating bubbles, the caramel ground showed no signs of corrosion, and rainbows stretched as further than anyone wanted to know.

Dedede set down his hammer. "The second we find this Dark Matter thing, Im smashing it for playing mind tricks on us."

"For _that_?" Waddle Dee argued. "Not the giant magma monsters, robots, or water with red dots in it?"

"Waddle, I'm a king. Ive got priorities," Dedede explained. "I can get over lava creatures, but messing with my head is too much."

Kirby tried asking another blazing Bobo for directions. "Excuse me, do you know-"

The Bobos response came with a wail. "The fairy is back! The fairy is back! Let the others know of her return!"

"You should not have returned, fairy."

Ribbon turned her attention to the Galbo dinosaur sitting on the red stone behind the screaming Bobo.

"Your presence means you mustered enough courage to return after fleeing like a child. No matter!" The Galbo reared back and blew fresh flames towards Ribbon. After the fairy dodged the first, the Galbo shot one blaze after another to incinerate the fairy, yet she zipped past each fireball like an annoying insect. _Then try dodging this!_ The Galbo opened its mouth again, except a pair of flippers kept it pried open. It looked up and saw a fierce penguin glaring back.

"So you like setting people on fire, huh?" Dedede looked to Waddle, who prepared for another hammering, but Ribbon intercepted him.

"Wait. He aimed for me, so let _me_ take care of it." Ribbon fluttered to the ground and locked gazes with the Galbo. She clenched her fists and held up the Crystal Shard. "Do you see this? _This_ is what your overlord wants. _This_ is what I..." she looked to the others, _"We_ fought to restore and I will not allow you to attempt to take my life again. So keep your empty threats to yourself."

The Crystal Shard shined in Ribbons hands as a white light enveloped the Galbo.

"King Dedede! Throw it into the air!"

Dedede obliged as it hurled the Galbo skyward. Before it could try and escape the bright light, its body burned and steam leaked from its horns. The eyes changed from yellow to white to black until the Galbo disintegrated.

When the light faded, Ribbon felt a blaze wrap around her hands as she dropped the Shard. She stared at the still glowing Shard, then to her trembling hands. _I almost lost it. I need to be more careful with the Shard._ Ribbon jumped when she felt one of Kirbys hands on her shoulder.

"Ribbon, if it hurts you to do that, don't try it so much."

Adeleine leaned next to Dedede. "Remind me never to mess with her again." Before Dedede could respond, Adeleine picked up a buzzing Sparky and stuffed it into a makeshift sack. "Just in case it gets dark again and we need a searchlight," she explained when Dedede gave her a skeptical glance.

Kirby kept along at a steady pace, piercing another Bobo and Scarfy before he could pull another scary face from behind on him. He grabbed one side of the lone green hedge, swung himself around several times, and shot himself onto a ledge, but he backed off the instant two Shotzo cannon fired in his direction.

Waddle Dee jumped from the ledge and landed atop a bed of flowers below two Propellers. Ahead behind the second hedge stood a Poppy Brother armed with a bomb in each hand. "Say, you happen to see any big black orb with a red eye and dripping with overall evil?"

The answer came when the Poppy Brother threw both bombs in Waddles direction. Waddle Dee took that for a no and rushed forward, but Kirby was two steps faster.

After vaulting over the Poppy Brother, Kirby spat the tan elemental crystal at the Poppy Brother, which resulted in a blend of brown and black. Kirby faced an enraged Waddle Dee. "What? I'm curious."

The next ledge led the five to an open lake. Smiling Scarfy and Glunk looked in every direction except where the five stood.

Kirbys rage rose again when he saw the Scarfy. "All right, that does it! I _know_ those things are watching me!"

"Kirby, you're overreacting to-"

"Stop staring at me!" Kirby waded in the water towards the black and brown island. Hey, you face thingies keep looking at me, now stop it!

They kept on smiling.

"That does it!" Kirby floated into the air between the two and clenched himself. His body warbled and took the shape of a Gordo spike ball. _No! THIS_ _is what I become?_ Kirby tried to move, but the Gordo form was too slow. _I'm so angry, I could burst!_ Kirby's body puffed up until the spikes burst forth, cutting through the Scarfy, Glunk, and the tiny island. As Kirby returned to normal, he expected to land in the water, but instead reached Dedede's head. "Dedede, you ruined my fall!"

"Puffball, you just found another shard!"

Kirby leaned over- pulling Dedede's hat over his eyes in the process- and inspected the jewel floating in the water. "Huh. Guess I did."

Adeleine stepped out of the water- careful to make sure the Sparky didn't electrocute her- and shook off as much water as she could. She waited for the others to join her before stuffing the Sparky into her sack. "Cheer up, guys. We found three more shards, I got a new pet, and were three steps closer to crushing that Dark Master thing. Just look at the bright side."

Before Ribbon could take notice of the Queen's castle, darkness swept overhead and swallowed the sky. Light vanished as evil leaked through every crevice and crack Ribbon could see. The bright and cheery exterior of the Queens castle had been consumed by sinister clouds that sucked all purity out of Ripple Star. Out of the clouds emerged a cackling Keke witch that taunted Ribbon from afar.

Ribbon frowned at Adeleine. "What bright side?"


	28. Cheerless Cavern

**Chapter 28: Cheerless Cavern**

-----------------------------------------

After a few seconds of intense eye rubbing, Ribbon watched the screeching Keke witch and dark skies replace the bright sun and clouds from a few seconds ago. Why Dark Matter- if it _was_ Dark Matter- toyed with her mind and played with her planet, she couldn't figure out. _Suns out ten seconds ago and now I find myself staring at a witch? What kind of force am I dealing with?_ The sound of Waddle Dee's voice interrupted Ribbons thoughts as she saw Dedede jump into a hole in the ground.

"We figured that maybe this hole can lead us into the castle from below. That or well just tunnel our way in," Waddle Dee called before jumping after Dedede.

Before Kirby took the leap, he asked Adeleine if he could swap his crystal combo for her Sparky. "That way I wont have to swim after eating so much."

"When do you _not_ eat?" Adeleine grumbled as she stuffed the clay-brown crystal into her sack and the Sparky down Kirby's mouth. "Besides, why trade two for one?"

"That spike ball thingy moves too slow. One power shouldn't have that problem." Not Kirby's best explanation, but he hoped it was enough to satisfy Adeleine. After enjoying the rush of electricity running through his body, he jumped into the hole after the artist.

_How strange._ Ribbon approached the hole with caution, as if Dark Matter would jump out and engulf her. _This far and they maintain their composure._ She watched the black fog surround and squeeze life from Queen Gretchen's castle, then back to the hole. _Just wait for me_.

Ribbon dove down the hole and let gravity take over. During the descent, she passed odd glowing red hearts. Or were they turquoise? Pink? They continued changing color even after the pool of water she landed in clouded her vision. Her eyes darted to Kirby, who had been rubbing what she assumed was his nose. _No. He wouldn't. Not here._

Kirby's body expanded twice before electricity burst from his body, sending powerful volts throughout everything and every_one_ still in the water, as well as shattering the yellow stone underneath him.

"Knock! It! Off! Puffball!" Dedede managed to say in between garbled gulps and sizzling shocks.

Five seconds passed before Kirby's sneeze ended. He rubbed his nose before his eyes focused on the shining jewel tucked in an alcove beneath the stone he somehow just destroyed. Before he could grab it, the jewel drifted through past Kirby and into the growing Shard Ribbon held.

"Water conducts electricity, you moron!" Again, Dedede made no attempt to hide his contempt for Kirby as he swam deeper into the cavern.

"Well, I'm sorry! You should have worn a rubber suit! Get Adeleine to paint you one."

But the best Adeleine had been able to paint before jumping down was scuba diving gear for herself. She turned around when she heard her name. "Do you know how many minutes it would take me to figure out to paint a scuba suit for a fat duck?"

"Penguin!"

Waddle Dee shut out the argument and swam ahead. _Almost over and then they'll be quiet_. He swam to a nearby blue and white Slushy jellyfish. "Excuse me, but were looking for a bunch of fairies and some missing shards. Have you seen any?"

The Slushy paused, as if giving Waddle's words a bit of thought. "Well, red puff, I have not seen any fairies daring enough to travel underwater except for your friend over there, and yes, a couple of these shards you speak of landed in the next cave. No one takes them since they do not grant any wishes, so you can have them."

"Thanks." Waddle turned towards the others. "You guys hear that? More shards up ahead."

"Well then, let's get to work!" Kirby flapped his arms as quick as the water pressure would allow him as he swam to Waddle Dee's side, but a tap-tap-tap sound had him whirling back around.

Adeleine tapped away at the glass in front of her. "Ribbon, are we in some kind of aquarium? How come there's glass underground?"

"No and the glass is to keep the water from spilling out and flooding the underground caves."

"Then why build caves underground if you're worried about flooding them anyway?"

"Adeleine, you ask too many questions. Why is Pop Star yellow? Why is your hat red and not orange-red? You don't question these things, you just accept it," was all Ribbon said as she swam towards an opening.

"That's because the hat was red when they _gave_ it to me, genius," Adeleine mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

When he emerged from the water, Kirby expanded his body as much as possible before spitting out a mouthful of water at the nearest flapping Flopper fish. The Flopper rocketed through a Scarfy, which became entangled in the thread of a Pupa spider. The Pupa dropped from the ceiling and flattened another nearby Scarfy face.

Dedede conked Kirby with his hammer. "See, now we can't ask them for directions."

"Its a straight path to that hole!" Adeleine pointed towards the exit. "Give me a break. Not like we'll have a problem walking straight."

Violent vibrations rocked the cavern while bits and pieces of stone rained from above Ribbons head.

Adeleine painted herself a hard helmet and placed it on her head before hiding within Dedede's coat. "I was wrong! Earthquake attack! Were all gonna die!"

"Make up your mind, already." Waddle Dee stumbled past Dedede towards the exit, but thanked the stars he hadn't taken one step further before the giant boulder crashed through and painted the walls with his body. He tapped the boulder. "Yep, solid and impossible to crack. Well, guys, wanna give me a hand with this?"

Without a word, Kirby rushed past Ribbon and Dedede and collided with the boulder. His body warbled and jiggled without control as he jittered backwards. He could feel the Sparky inside of him bounce around like a loose pinball while his eyes did figure eights. "There goes my idea," Kirby managed to say.

"You guys wouldn't get anywhere without me." Dedede shook Adeleine from his coat and removed his hammer. He sized himself up with the boulder, gave it a few taps, and nodded. "Yep, you all need me more than you think." He leaned back and gave the boulder a smash, creating train tracks of cracks in the sides. A second smash had more cracks colliding and overcoming other cracks, and with a furious jump and swing, Dedede split the stone down the middle.

Dedede ignored the rubble shower on his coat- he focused on clearing the rock littering the ground. When all stone had been cleared, he put his hammer behind his back and turned around. "Now what were you worried about?" He didn't give them a chance to respond before he crawled through the hole and deeper into the cave.

Adeleine pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips. "I'd like to paint his mouth shut." She gathered her soaked sack of paint supplies and followed after Dedede.

"At least he cleared the way," Ribbon pointed out.

"Yeah," Adeleine agreed, her scowl growing as she watched Dedede flatten a Kany crab, "but you can be strong and you can be a boasting duck, too."

Drops dripped onto the ground, crashing against the stones in the cave and creating a blend of echoes as everyone approached another hole. Across from it stood a chattering green Kapar that threw its crown the instant it recognized Kirby.

But Waddle Dee rushed past Kirby and kicked the crown back into the stone behind the Kapar. With its eyes focused on its weapon, the Kapar did not have time to notice the yellow elemental crystal heading its way until it was too late.

Kirby held the green and yellow crystal in his hand before swallowing it, allowing the power to flow through his body. He leapt down the hole, but hovered inches above the ground just before a Ghost Knight could pierce him with his spear.

The Knight pulled back for another strike and didn't waver when Kirby revealed his extensive glowing saber, but a growing dark circle had the Knight looking up just before it joined the ground underneath Dedede's robe.

Seconds later, after Ribbon floated down, Adeleine drifted to the ground on a wet, makeshift umbrella she had painted. "You know, duck, you could be Dark Matter, too?"

"How's that?"

"Because you take the fun out of everything!"

Without an enemy to destroy, Kirby took his saber and cut through several blocks and a lone Bo guarding the hole. He popped down another hole and found another Scarfy and Ghost Knight guarding a hole.

Yet Adeleine's attention was on the Scarfy. "Guys, looks like we have two choices for an exit. Which way should we go?"

"You and Ribbon check that one" Kirby told Adeleine as he, Dedede, and Waddle went for the Ghost Knight and Mahall creatures.

"I need a little more boost," Adeleine told Ribbon, who tried to hoist her through the other hole. Adeleine's head poked through the opening, but her smile vanished when all she found meeting her was a tomato. Frowning, she pocketed the tomato as she and Ribbon returned to the guys who had just finished off the last Mahall.

Dedede leaned over to the side of the hole. "More water, huh?" He turned to Adeleine. "I don't suppose you could paint me a scuba suit, could you?"

"Just cover your mouth with your coat," Adeleine told him before jumping into the water.

Ribbon smiled as the shard began to glow. Too bad she wouldn't be able to enjoy these exchanges much longer, but she would try and savor as much time as possible before the journey ended.

Kirby, Ribbon, Dedede, and Waddle dove in next. Kirby looked to his right and saw another shiny piece in the distance. "I'm going for it."

"We'll try and clear the way on the other side," Waddle replied while Kirby swam for the shard.

Underwater, however, Ripple Star presented little challenge to the group. No more enemies presented themselves. In fact, as Dedede and Waddle emerged from a hole on the other side, it felt as if every single baddie on the planet had vanished outside of the ones they had already destroyed. It made no sense- even Aqua Star had waters crawling with killer crabs and sharks, but Ripple? Just some jellyfish and a Fishbone. Where had they all gone?

"Well, this could be a problem." Dedede pointed to the mountain of blocks obstructing their path. "We could just plow through them all, but they look like they go on forever."

"Good." Waddle agreed. "I like a challenge. Even when-" He paused when Adeleine took out her easel and began painting. "At this time, Adeleine?"

"I can't help it!" Adeleine whined as her paintbrush rushed across the easel. "I haven't eaten in so long and I need my sugar rush!" She finished the last touches on her lollipop before it fell out of the easel and into her hands. _At last_. Adeleine picked up the sucker- her first bite into sugar since Aqua Star. Just one bite would get her going again. Just a bite. She could take it.

Yet somehow, when Adeleine bit into her treat, it felt hard and tasted bland. She opened her eyes and saw a Crystal Shard fragment resting in her hands. She looked to the left, the right, behind her easel in horror to find her candy before she heard a familiar chomping.

There sat Kirby, resting on one of the blocks and finishing off the rest of Adeleine's lollipop. The artist fell to her knees in despair.

"Oh, why?!"

"Just paint another one," Dedede reminded her.

But just as Adeleine prepared to do so, Kirby began to shake, rattle, and roll. His eyes changed from black to red to green and yellow before his body began to glow. A yellow hue surrounded Kirby as he shot through the blocks out of control like a runaway train. He plowed through block after block, unable to control his body. He pulled out his saber and swung it from left to right, but just managed to destroy several pillars tucked away in small alcoves before he whizzed through the alcove at the bottom level.

Waddle stared at the glowing streak of light where Kirby ran before looking back to Adeleine. "You've created a drug."

"Or a super strong adrenaline," Ribbon added.

"Who cares _what_ she made?" Dedede called from the lower floor. He walked out to where the others could see him and held a shard in his hand. "At least she got him to blow through pillars and get us another shard!"

Well, that was enough. Ribbon flew down and added the shard as she, Waddle, Adeleine, and Dedede followed Kirby's path into the next room. They found Kirby staring at a raised platform in the center of the small room.

"See that?" Kirby pointed to the giant yellow star on the center of the platform. "Maybe its some kind of portal that'll take us back to Pop Star."

"But we don't want _that_," Dedede responded, tossing his hammer over his shoulder.

"Not like we have any other choice," Waddle Dee interjected as he jumped atop the platform. "If it is, we can at least use the Shard to get us back in a quick second. If not, we'll have to see what happens."

Dedede, Ribbon, and Adeleine followed suit and jumped atop the platform. It shifted and rumbled for a few seconds before lifting from the ground and rising higher into the air until it passed through the hole in the ceiling.

The platform stopped in a wild room filled with abandoned toys, floating stars galore, and an array of polygonal objects bathed in colors ranging from fuchsia to tan to goldenrod to emerald.

Adeleine frowned. "That was a short ride."

"Doesn't matter. That thing's glowing like crazy!" Waddle Dee pointed to the shard and then looked to the star covered doorway ahead. "Let's get moving!"

The five rushed through the entry and entered what looked like a replica of a living room. Sun filtered in through diamond shaped windows and shined upon the rainbow patterned tiles on the floor. The doorway sealed shut behind them.

"Great." Dedede rolled his eyes and pulled out his hammer. "Another giant. Does Dark Matter do anything original?"

A maraca crashed through the glass and diverted Dedede's attention. A lone Chacha creature crawled through the destroyed window and held her other maraca, ready to fight.

"One little thing. Lemme handle this." Before Dedede took a step forward, he leapt back in surprise when a fireball shot past him and burned a hole into the wall. He turned and saw a growling Galbo with steam emitting from its top. "Okay, two stupid little things. Still no problem-OW!" Dedede leaned forward from the impact of what felt like a hammer slamming into him.

Nope. Just a little Gabon that had scored a direct hit with his skull helmet.

"Three is still nothing!"

A Poppy Brother materialized from the air at the far end of the room and armed itself with a bomb in each hand. "Is that so?" He turned his attention to Kirby. "Well, don't get too cocky now, star warrior!"

The Galbo grinned. "Let's see how you handle us all at once on _our_ planet!

From behind the Galbo materialized a Ghost Knight that pointed its spear towards Ribbon. "Too bad your queenie isn't here to see you _die!"_

The Chacha grabbed its second maraca. "We'll make sure you never reach the Dark One!"

"We'll just see about that!"

Kirby withdrew his saber.

Waddle Dee braced himself for battle.

Adeleine gripped her new baseball bat.

Dedede clutched his hammer.

Ribbons wings fluttered as she held the Shard above her head. It had all come down to this. She should have been shaking, but the last line of defense was just a bunch of small time creatures she and the others had walked all over on the way? A frown crossed her face as she spoke the one thought crossing her mind at the time.

"You guys don't give up, do you?"


	29. And Behind Door Number One

**Chapter 29: And Behind Door Number One...**

AN: Hello and sorry for the long hiatus. Hope this is a nice holiday treat and pay close attention to what happens.

* * *

"Now you die!"

The dancing Chacha chucked both of its maracas towards Ribbon. The fairy dodged the first while Dedede batted away the second. Ribbon's wings fluttered as she soared towards the Chacha, but stopped just clear of a fireball that zipped past. Her eyes darted towards the grinning Galbo.

"You're not going anywhere! She's the one the Dark One wants dead!"

"Shut up." Dedede flattened the Galbo under his hammer. A smile formed as he heard the Galbo scream beneath the weight of his hammer. "Come on, guys! Time to get rid of these pests once and for all!"

At that command, the others charged. Adeleine went a-swinging her painted bat at the charging Gabon. "Hold still already!" Adeleine lunged again, but hit the air. The Gabon leapt into a corner, unscrewed its head, and waited for the swinging artist to get closer. "Come on, I can still see you!" Adeleine's unguided rant blocked the sound of her bat cracking against a skull helmet. As Adeleine lowered her arms, she watched the skull crash into the rest of the Gabon's body and into a wall where the body collapsed into a heap of bones.

_Looks like she's doing well_, Kirby thought as he caught another Poppy Brother bomb and threw it back at the source. Yet as soon as the Poppy Brother disappeared, an erupting Pompey took its place.

The Pompey turned towards Kirby. "You're in my sight, star warrior! You're going down!" Pompey spat three rock after rock after Rock at Kirby and made sure to keep the invaders at bay.

Kirby swung his saber around his back and charged, but froze in place as a lance flew across the room and came inches from skewering him. He watched as the Ghost Knight's lance dug itself from the wall and returned to its owner. "Where are they all coming from?!"

"Don't know!" Waddle Dee grabbed another Pompey and launched it through a window. "Whoever's doing this saved their best stuff for last!" He went for the Ghost Knight and tried wrestling the lance out of its hand, but the Knight pulled back and tossed Waddle Dee through one of the walls.

"Nyah! I have defeated you!" The Knight managed to say before a flipper hoisted it into the air.

"You can't just snatch something from these guys, Waddle! You need muscle power!" Dedede tossed the Ghost Knight, lance first, across the room where it impaled itself through both a shivering Snowman and pouting Pompey.

Adeleine stopped a-swinging when the room fell silent. No more enemies jumped through windows and the one sound was the quiet hum of the shard fragment that appeared from thin air as the doors opened. "So…what, every time we get rid of these guys we get another shard? How's that happen?"

"Adeleine, you are questioning how the shards appear _now_?" Ribbon asked as she collected the fragment. "Just accept it as magical or mystical."

"I thought the shards were mythical."

"No, it's mystical."

"So…mythisical?"

"Can we go already?!" Waddle Dee poked his head in from the other side of the wall.

Kirby walked through the door as waves of nostalgia hit him in the face. An enormous apple tree painted onto the wall stood amidst clouds decorated in a pale shade of cerulean. Kirby thought for a second that the tree glared at him and prepared to spit out a powerful gust. The sound of children laughing filled Kirby's ears as Bumber propellers dropped from the air and trotted up and down the ascending staircase.

Adeleine used one of the Bumbers as a baseball and slammed it into the wall. "Guys, let's go. This room creeps me out."

They climbed the stairs and rushed through the door just as it sealed shut behind and them.

With a heavy groan, Dedede slammed his hammer against the ground. "Oh, come on! This isn't funny anymore!"

"Was it _ever_ funny?" Waddle Dee replied as he gazed into the room. A nice blue, pink, and orange checkerboard carpet had been laid out for them, but no time to relax. Sparks rained from the ceiling and set the carpet ablaze while the snickering Sparky raindrop fell from the ceiling. "No, it's still not funny."

Kirby took the emerald and yellow crystal out of his mouth and tossed it into one of the walls. "At least I get to start with something fresh."

"Or something nasty," Adeleine responded as she pointed to the black Mariel spider crawling from the ceiling. The artist made sure to paint herself a can of bug spray.

All of a sudden, Waddle Dee felt the ground beneath him rotate as he spun round and round. He leapt back just before a Sawyer saw could buzz right through his body. Yet he leapt up and over the saw to avoid being pierced by the pinching Kany crab.

"There must be a hundred of these guys!"

"Wow." Dedede marveled at Adeleine's intelligence. "You got to that number without taking off your shoes and socks."

"How about I put my sock-" Adeleine's rant had been cut off when Kirby kicked the Mariel spider into her, which then sent her into Dedede.

"Argue later. Fight now!" Kirby absorbed the nearby Punc and rushed at the burning Bobo.

"We'll finish this later." Adeleine pulled out her makeshift bat and continued her a-swinging. Sure, she wouldn't get very far swinging with her eyes closed, but if she managed to- through pure luck- crack the Gabon's skull open, maybe lightning could strike twice.

"Hey artist, you're about to be short one skirt!"

Adeleine ignored Dedede's taunts, but she couldn't ignore the sound of something ripping at her clothes. She spun around and saw the Kany crab and Sawyer snipping and sawing away. With an undignified squeal, the artist slammed her hammer down once, twice, three times more than a lady should. But when the disjointed cries of the crab and saw groaned beneath her hammer, she grinned and put away her hammer in victory.

On his side, Waddle Dee grabbed a Hack hammer and used it counter a Yariko's spear. "Got any better ideas?"

Without its weapon, the Yariko jumped atop the Nruff pig. It pulled out another spear as the Nruff dragged its hoof against the ground and snorted. With a wai, the Nruff charged.

Waddle Dee, in an attempt to show off his rugged, raw strength, somehow tore apart the ground beneath him and fashioned a shield. He also dragged his feet across the ground and charged towards the Nruff. His yell filled the room, fire raged in his eyes, and the power of the world seemed to be behind him as he prepared for a final rush.

And then he flew right over the Yariko and Nruff.

"What the-" Waddle looked around as his newfound rival continued charging along. He struggled and squirmed to get free, but remained trapped by Ribbon's iron grip. "Ribbon, why would you do that? I was on the verge of a major victory!"

"Oh, grow up." Ribbon rolled her eyes.

Instead, the now out of control Nruff continued charging towards a frightened Emp penguin. Rather than defend itself, the Emp ran away and beak first into a wall. Before the Emp could break itself free, the Nruff slammed into it as the Yariko fell off and hit the ground headfirst.

Kirby turned his head at the sound of the door opening. "Good. Now we can get out of here."

This time, someone took the time to paint a rainbow across the wall and give the room a more festive feel by painting a giant Christmas tree.

Adeleine snorted. "Some artists have no taste. They put the Christmas balls on the tree, but forget the star. That's a shame."

"You paint baseball bats in your free and _that's_ not a shame?" Waddle Dee asked as he hopped atop one of the bouncing Bouncy springs. "You artists never agree on anything."

"Indeed," Ribbon agreed. "Can we continue?"

_She's eager_, Kirby thought to himself. He walked through the opening at the end of the staircase and wished for an exit. "And behind door number three…" A Victorian style room. Emerald teeth stood on either side of the door to Kirby's left and the decorated orange-red sun painted on the room's floor reflected against the ceiling window. "More locked rooms. I guess I got it right."

The piercing shriek of a winged Bonehead creature had Kirby jerk his head to the right. The scary skull soared towards Ribbon, but Kirby leapt into the air, spun around and kicked the Bonehead into the wall.

Dedede took out his hammer and tackled the bouncing Cairn to the ground, Waddle Dee went for the next bouncing Bouncy, and Adeleine now found more delight in a makeshift hammer as opposed to a bat.

Yet as soon as Dedede crushed the Cairn did a buzzing Plugg take its place. He swatted that away, but then a Kapar duck clung onto his hammer. He groaned in frustration as he swung his hammer to shake off the Kapar. "No matter how many of these things we get rid of, ten more take their place!" With one final thrust, he flung the Kapar into a Kacti cactus and burning Burnis just before Adeleine could put it out with her makeshift liquidizing ultra dousing device.

Kirby waited for the door to open, which happened after a long five seconds. He looked to Ribbon. "What's wrong?"

"The shard's starting to react, but I don't see one."

"Maybe it's in the next room," Waddle suggested as he entered the hallway.

_I'm not so sure_, Ribbon thought to herself as she flew under the ceiling window and over the untouched painted sun. _As long as it's reacting, at least it's a sign this is almost over_.

While the others ascended yet another long staircase, Adeleine took out a container of blue paint. "Another big tree on the wall and it doesn't even look festive. Guys, I think I should stay here awhile and paint the tree."

"Maybe Kirby and I could give you constructive criticism on how to paint this entire building and that cave we came from the way you want it."

Adeleine's face beamed at Waddle's suggestion. "You mean it?!"

"…artist, don't make me paint something and hit you with your own easel," was all Dedede said as he walked around a rambling Rocky creature.

"And now behind door number four…" Kirby mumbled as he hoped for an exit. Yet alas…

"I'd like to say I'm getting angry but that happened when we got to the _second_ room," Waddle told the others as the doors slammed shut behind them again.

A kaleidoscope painting adorned the ground, much to Adeleine's delight as the artist went to work to finish the untouched parts of the floor.

"Don't get too upset, Waddle." Dedede pointed to the ceiling where several Flora flowers and a Fishbone creature floated overhead. "Looks like we have to get airborne this time."

Kirby floated near the ceiling, inhaled a large amount of air, and blew the Fishbone into the wall. "Any suggestions for you guys?"

Dedede and Waddle looked to Adeleine, who had more fun deciding between goldenrod and peach. The same thought crossed their mind: human projectile.

Adeleine applied no more than one stroke of her brush before she felt something hoist her into the air by her skirt. She looked and saw Dedede- and a snickering Waddle Dee- lining her up like a cannon. "Hey, what are you-"

"Take a flying tackle attack!"

Dedede chucked Adeleine threw the air. The wind whipped through her hair, blew off her hat, and caused her cheeks and lips to warble to an impossible level as her squeal caused windows to shatter. She held up her bottle of ink as a last defense against the floating Flora and Bonefish, but she crashed through both of them and her foot got caught in the second Flora's propellers. The Flora spun Adeleine 'round and round while the artist's brain bounced around in her head like a loose eight ball. Just as Adeleine saw the floor come closer into view, Dedede skidded across the room and caught the screaming girl.

"There. You had fun and helped us get rid of those pests. What were you worried about?"

Adeleine didn't respond. She didn't enjoy becoming a human cannonball and decided to save her response for Dedede when she painted his castle pink.

Two black Bo balls descended on Ribbon, yet rather than run away, she shined the Crystal Shard in their direction. The light caused flames to spread across their bodies until nothing remained but smoldering ashes. Ribbon froze and lowered the Shard to her side as she realized that _she_ had just eradicated some of Dark Matter's minions. No help from Kirby. All by herself. _Maybe I can still do this_.

Kirby grabbed onto the Skud rocket and tried to redirect its course.

"Hey!" The Skud tried veering left and right to throw off Kirby. "Lemme go!"

"No way! I've always wanted to ride a rocket!"

"You mean…_another_ rocket," Waddle Dee muttered to himself.

Kirby swerved back and forth while on the Skud, but he still couldn't get a firm grasp. "Well, I can't just ride you around forever." Kirby saw Dedede swatting away at two Mumbies, while Waddle Dee and Adeleine dealt with the Ice Propellers and Bumber umbrellas. "Looks like you're the one in trouble," Kirby told the Skud. He turned his direction towards the windows, focused on the center, and jumped off at the last second while the Skud screamed its way out of the cave and into the stratosphere. Kirby landed next to Ribbon smiled. "Problem solv-" A bolt of lightning interrupted his victory speech.

A Zoos floated overhead in its cloud as it prepared another thunderbolt. "You were saying, star warrior?" One, two, three lightning bolts came down in Kirby's direction as he dodged bolt after bolt. He tried to get close, but each time he did, the Zoos detonated one of its electric shocks. "Give it up. You can't win!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, watch out for that balloon."

"What balloo-" Before the Zoos could turn around, Dedede had already rocketed a Scarfy towards it. Both went sailing through the window with a wail as the doors opened.

"If the next room isn't the last one, I'm blaming you, artist," was all Dedede told Adeleine as he ascended the hallway staircase.

"Hey!" Adeleine inched her way around the floating Gordo. "It's not my fault Ripple Star's fairies don't know how to make a maze fun!"

Ribbon's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Well, at least they painted the wall with a night sky this time. They've got _some_ artistic taste," Adeleine added.

"And behind door number five…" Kirby began as the door slammed shut. Three of them appeared on sight. "Three more Bronto Burts. Does Dark Matter think we're gonna start flying all over the place. Yet before Kirby could attack, two Pteran pterodactyls attempted a dive bomb from above.

As Waddle Dee jumped to his aid, a Burnis bird missed him by a nose as it created a miniature burning crater. Waddle went to inspect the hole, yet once he did, a Frigis soared from beneath the ground and knocked him off of his feet. "Oh, come on!" Waddle complained as more birds flew overhead. "That's just not possible!"

Adeleine pulled out her makeshift dousing device, but in a flash, another Burnis bird had flown through and burned a hole in her artwork.

"Okay, this is more than enough." Kirby looked around for a way to end this _now_. At the far end of the room, two Turbis: purple electric balls surrounded by four metal teeth, zipped up, down, and all around the room. _That's it!_ "Waddle, Dedede, get those two spark thingies!"

Before Waddle could do so, he saw Dedede conversing with some of the Bronto Burt birds. Seconds passed before the pink birds seized the buzzing Turbis and handed them to the king. Waddle scratched his head in confusion. "Explain _that_."

"What can I say? They think I'm one of them," was Dedede's best explanation as he handed Kirby the Turbis. "And artist, if I hear a birdbrain remark, you're finished!"

"Never mind, then."

Kirby swallowed both Turbis and shut his eyes. A jolt ran through his body as he felt electricity surge from within. Bolts ran from under his feet. He listened, then smiled at the piercing shrieks and cries of the many birds converging on him. "Everyone, move away!"

A beat…

Then a giant electrical field burst from within and surrounded Kirby's body. The strange force field buzzed and sizzled in anticipation as the birds continued charging. The first Bronto Burt opened its beak to swallow the pink puffball whole.

It did not expect a bolt of lightning to zap straight through its body and obliterate it in seconds.

Another Bronto attempted to slow down, yet the sudden onslaught of Bronto Burt, Burnis, and Frigis all rushed without stopping. A single jolt ran through one Frigis, which connected to a Burnis, which had been pushed by two Bronto Burt until every single winged creature save for Dedede burned under the intense electricity that sizzled, grilled, and charred them all to nothing but burnt remains.

When he was sure, Kirby opened his eyes and let the force field drop. He tried to hide the smile on his face at the sight of crisp birds.

"Well," Adeleine began, "looks like we're having birdie for breakfast…again!"

Ribbon grabbed the shard that appeared and would've whacked Adeleine over her head for her bad joke if Dedede hadn't done it first...and then a second time.

In the next room just stood a single staircase occupied by five N-Z's. A light at the end of the staircase signaled the group's victory.

But then Ribbon looked up.

She held her breath as the shard dropped from her hand. The strong surge of confidence vanished. The sense of companionship and love from Kirby and the others all seemed to fade away as she stared at the endless amount of darkness looming overhead.

Dark Matter warbled and crept about the room's walls. The occasional tentacle slipped down and attempted to grab the Shard, but the others held their ground.

Ribbon's world of hope faded. Her breathing raced as her heart beat like a furious drummer pounding for dear life. She shivered when she thought she saw a red eye float amongst the darkness and stare at her as if to pierce her soul. Each time she tried to avert her eyes, some unknown driving force almost tempted her to look back into the face of evil. An invisible pair of hands forced her gaze to match that of Dark Matter's.

Three. That was all it took before. Three orbs of Dark Matter managed to sidetrack her from her mission. What could an entire ceiling- at least, she hoped that's all it was- of Dark Matter do to her?

"Ribbon!"

Kirby shook Ribbon's shoulder for dear life.

"We ought to keep going. Adeleine said she could hear voices."

Ribbon did indeed hear the familiar voice of…Emily and Dixie, was it? Sweat raced down Ribbon's neck as she locked gazes with Dark Matter again, but the calls of her friends caused her wings to flutter. "Indeed! Two of those voices belong to fairies who assist the Queen! Let's make haste!"

Dedede led the way, batting away any and all N-Z creatures that blocked his path. They went through the door one after another: Dedede, Adeleine, Waddle Dee, Ribbon.

_Slam!_

Kirby hit the door face first and heard the immediate knocking from the other side.

_You just could not leave yourself out of a matter that did not concern you_.

Kirby turned around as the darkness began to crawl down the walls.

_The fairy is not your priority, star warrior. You are not from similar planets and you do not share the same destiny. And despite that, you have served as her footstool in order to help her reclaim what should not belong to her: this kingdom and this planet._

The darkness covered the entire right wall.

"Kirby, are you all right?!"

"Should I knock down the door?"

"We can bust through this thing in no time, Kirby! Just give us the word!"

Amidst the rambling from the darkness and his friend's pleas, Kirby took a deep breath and took one step away from the door. "You guys go on ahead. Ribbon's friends need you." He turned towards the center of the room. "I'll go it alone from here."

"Are you mad, puffball?! You'll never make it!"

"Enough! Ribbon, you and the others start freeing all of your friends and get this planet back in shape!"

"We won't leave you!"

"That's an order!"

The pounding of the door continued as the darkness crawled down the opposite wall. Kirby didn't jump when a tendril inched him further towards the center and away from the door.

On the other side, Dedede hammered away, but just when he felt he had made a dent, a purplish fist emerged from the door and slammed into his body. Dedede flung like a helpless rag doll down the stairs while Adeleine rushed after him.

Waddle looked to Ribbon, who stood shaking. "Ribbon, we don't have a choice! Kirby told us to go on!"

"And then what?!" Ribbon's voice cracked as fresh tears ran down her face. The shard shook as her body refused to stop moving. "Kirby was all I had when I landed on Pop Star and you want me to abandon him?!"

A black tendril surged from beneath the door and rushed towards the Shard. Waddle kicked away the tendril as Ribbon grabbed the jewel.

"We have to go _now_!"

Kirby did not stop in his tracks when he heard Ribbon's last shrill cry of his name. He stood in the center of the room as wave after wave of the darkness enveloped the space. It had neither a beginning nor end.

Then the laughing began. Not a nice, jovial laugh like Ribbon's or Adeleine's, or even a spiteful one like Dedede. It seemed to lack any emotion at all.

A white slab flew past Kirby's face and floated dead center before him. Smaller pieces soared from all directions and slammed together until a perfect polygonal figure had been formed. Out of the smallest corner, red and black bled together into the polygon. The iris of the blood eye looked around and eyed the pink creature below.

More eyes bled into the figure until Kirby found it hard to tell whether the figure was still white or not. Regardless, he licked his lips and braced himself.

"It's all come down to this."

The figure transformed.

_Tonight is a wonderful night to die_.


	30. Miracles

**Chapter 30: Miracles**

**

* * *

**

A pink sphere ran across a thick blanket of darkness while flaming pillars crashed behind him. The pillars blazed through the darkness, but the dark void did not disappear. As the pillars retreated to the flaming fireball, the eye within the flame narrowed on the pink sphere.

Kirby panted and dropped to one knee. _Why isn't anything working?_ He thought. _I've hit this thing five times and it keeps bringing up some shield. I can't attack it!_

As the flaming pillar surged, Kirby ducked to his left and let the electricity rush from his body again. A sound akin to screeching birds rang in Kirby's ear as a barrier materialized around the fireball. Before Kirby could stop the electricity, a pillar slammed into him and sent him towards one edge of the darkness. He gritted his teeth as the flames burned atop his head. Kirby patted the flames with one hand and wipes his eyes with the other.

The fireball reverted back to the polygon. The eyes scanned the darkness. At once, the eyes then slammed shut. The polygon shifted and spikes poked from each side. Orange poured onto each side as eight spikes pierced the figure like a blade jutting through an arm. The first spike stretched from the orange ball and sliced through the darkness. Then the second shot from the ball and into the void.

Kirby picked himself up as the third spike carved into the darkness' wall. He leapt to the right as the fourth spike cut through behind him. Just as the spike above him came down, Kirby shut his eyes as the spark force field expanded. Despite that, the fifth spike penetrated the barrier and slammed into his head. The force field vanished at once as Kirby stumbled backwards. Slobber trickled down his mouth as rolled over on his side.

Above, the spiked ball morphed back into the polygon, but then became a floating stone.

In his mind, Kirby thought he had seen a bleeding eyed cube morph from a fireball to a spike spitting sun to a jagged rock. It taunted him from above, moving from side to side before positioning itself right above Kirby. A rock exploded from each side and the darkness grew heavier. Why? Why couldn't he hurt this, this thing?

The rocks slammed down.

* * *

_"Ribbon?"_

_"Yes, Mr. Kirby, sir?"_

_Ribbon turned around away from the window of Kirby's cottage, dropping to her knees in an overwhelming sadness. Her fingers traveled as far as the tiny shard would allow them. After a long moment, she looked up at Kirby._

_"What are you afraid of? I told you I'd help you get these shard things back and you keep looking out the window like your planet's exploded or something."_

_Tilting her head to the right, Ribbon sobbed into her shoulder. She slammed her head into her shoulder, but her body had the weight of a stuffed animal and she gritted in frustration when pain did not arrive. Ribbon let her body plummet to the ground as her fingers tightened on the edges of the shard._

_"I'm afraid."_

_There, she said it. After Kirby's comforting, Ribbon still feared for her life and that of Ripple Star's._

_"You're afraid that you can't do it. Kirby had enough of the crying. Even though your queen sent you to save your planet, you're acting like it's hopeless. And now it's bringing you guilt for your planet's corruption."_

_"I am responsible for what's happening."_

_"No. We're all responsible for the choices we make. Your Queen believed in you. So where's your faith?"_

_Ribbon stared at her reflection in the shard, then at Kirby. "I'm trying."_

_"We'll take care of this Dark Matter thing when we get to it, but we won't if you let misery get the best of you-"_

_"Never!"__ Ribbon interrupted as her wings found motivation and she took flight. Such an emotion is forbidden on our planet. She gulped. Those emotions: loss, defeat, had no place on Ripple Star. "Despair is the most dangerous fear of all. I know this. So does my queen. She drifted until she floated in front of Kirby. Dark Matter can take on many forms, and even use the fear it sees inside of your soul against you. You must be ready for anything."_

_

* * *

_

Kirby's eyes shot open as he shot towards the darkness' edge, away from the collapsing rocks. What did Ribbon mean _anything_? Some transforming cube? The blasted thing wouldn't just reveal a weak spot like everything else had, and what was this about fear in your soul?

The stone slammed into the ground. For five endless seconds, it waited, as did Kirby. But then it sped to its left in an uncontrollable frenzy. It reversed towards Kirby and flattened the spare debris in its path.

Memories of Pix flooded Kirby's mind- how did he find a weakness for that? Dumb luck. Right. Not this confused rubix cube that could not decide what it wanted to be. He watched the boulder return to the air before becoming the cube again.

_Those stupid eyes are mocking me!_ Kirby ignored the jolt in his body as he pulled the yellow elemental crystal from his mouth. _And this thing's not doing anything for me!_

The cube buzzed and sizzled as sparks shot from each side. It became a surging spark that cast out yellow lasers on each side.

_May as well get rid of this thing!_ Kirby thought as he tossed the crystal towards the spark. To his surprise, however, instead of a barrier coming up to deflect the attack, the crystal crashed into the spark.

The darkness around Kirby grew angry, flickering between complete darkness and just able to see at midnight. He shut his eyes at the sound of a horrifying wail coming from the spark. It began to flicker between the cube and the spark again before the darkness returned to normal.

Wait, what did I do? Kirby waited for an answer, but it never came.

The spark continued to buzz like the ever annoying presence of a fly at Kirby's ear. A beat, then a white laser shot from its core and just missed Kirby's right foot. The laser reappeared from another edge of darkness before it bounced off of the spark and split into two smaller lasers. The beams bumped into one another like bees in a mad rush before each beam shrunk into a slow floating spark.

Kirby edged towards a lone spark and reached out just enough to almost touch it, but jerked his hand back when the stinging sensation raced through his body. He tried a rush towards it, but the spark had vanished and the core had again reverted back to the cube.

_Come on, I got a hit on it somehow! Do I have to throw crystals at it?_ Kirby stopped and thought about his own question before shaking it off. _No, I don't have any more of those. What, was I supposed to come in prepared with tons of the things?_

The temperature around Kirby plummeted as he watched ice freeze over the cube. Six smaller cubes materialized around it and shot ice shards in several directions while the cube rotated around the darkness. The puffball's teeth chattered. He rushed across the room to avoid the cubes that solidified the darkness upon contact, but then, he whipped back around to face the cube.

_Wait, why not just turn into a cube? Why make the ice cubes around it if its not gonna launch them at me? Maybe I can_

As the cube approached him, Kirby floated into the air and absorbed one of the smaller cubes. It didn't disagree with his stomach, so he swallowed it and almost leapt back in surprise when he let out a puff of cold air from his mouth. Before all of the ice could melt, Kirby removed the blue crystal and shot it towards a cube. The combined crystal landed under the cube as it returned to its original form.

The cube transformed yet again- this time back into the spiked ball. Again, each spike shot from the core and into the darkness, but Kirby had a plan this time around. As a spike stretched past him, he rolled into a medium sized snowball and plowed through three spikes. The snowball shrunk and gained a pink hue as Kirby returned to his original form.

He removed the larger blue and beige crystal from his mouth and threw it towards the ball, but another barrier appeared and deflected it back towards the darkness.

Before Kirby could strike the darkness in frustration, a bulb sparked to life in his head as he came to a sudden realization or so he hoped it was. He waited for the cube to transform again as he clenched his fists. _I've got one shot at this._

When the cube transformed, the blazing eye reappeared again, searching for Kirby. It floated to the right before increasing its size when a fiery pillar shot out from each side.

Kirby held his ground and ignored the burning remains left by the pillars. He wanted the spark to appear again. _If I'm right, this may be my best way to destroy it_.

The flame returned to the cube while each eye zeroed in on Kirby. _Trying to think of a plan, are you?_

Kirby blinked.

_Before you even conceive the thought, I remain a galaxys length ahead of you, star warrior. Do not attempt to defy me._

The cube spun and separated into three smaller boomerangs, similar to the arrangement of a Fishbone. Sharp teeth aligned the first crescent moon as it bore into the darkness and chomped through.

Kirby leapt across the darkness and paid no mind to the cutter. He wanted the spark again, not some imitation boomerang. _Come on, already! So now you want to read my mind _and_ destroy the darkness that _you_ made?_ The buzzing sound of the cutter interrupted Kirby's thoughts and had him jumping towards the opposite end of the darkness.

When the cutter returned to the center, it reverted to the cube- still every eye occupied a slot. Less searching, then the cube buzzed as the spark reappeared.

Kirby narrowed his eyes. _All right, cube. Just give me an opening._

The first beam of light zipped past Kirby's right foot and into the darkness as it sped through the opposite end of the void. When it collided with the spark, it split into another beam, which split into two smaller beams until tiny floating sparks remained.

Then Kirby made his move. He rushed towards the nearest spark and absorbed it. As the electricity built within his body again, he floated upward towards the spark and let the energy take over. His electricity surged and no mirror appeared before the spark this time.

Sparks flew from all directions as the giant spark in the center of the darkness groaned in anger. All of a sudden, Kirby heard a tiny explosion just as a beam slammed into him. He went flying towards the edge of darkness, but turned around just in time to see the spark sizzle before returning to the cube.

The cube spun slower than normal and Kirby had to squint, but he was sure that two, maybe three eyes had disappeared, black holes taking their place. Kirby's own eyes went out of focus like those of someone who had an epiphany. _The electricity power plus his spark...that's it!_ But as Kirby realized what he had to do, he watched the cube and his smile dropped. He looked like the Whispy Woods had returned: an I don't want to go through all of this to beat this guy, but I've got no choice kind of face that reminded him that as menacing as his challenges had been, none had strayed away from having a vulnerability to their own projectiles.

As the cube transformed into the stone again, Kirby held the yellow crystal in his mouth as four rocks exploded from the stone once again. Once one hit the ground, Kirby dove and slammed the crystal into it. At once, he spat out a boulder attached to an electrical current. It went through the boulder instead of crashing against a barrier. Again, the boulder groaned from the attack, yet still landed on the darkness and rolled towards Kirby.

Kirby used one free hand to pull the current towards him and slam into the boulder before it could flatten him. The boulder flickered between its current state and the cube, but it rolled away to avoid further damage. But as soon as it retreated back towards the air, the electric rock smashed through it towards it could revert back to the cube. Another explosion, back to the cube, and more black spaces appeared.

_Now I've got you!_ Kirby thought as he prepared for another transformation.

This time, however, a purplish coat surrounded the cube turned orb as four smaller spheres surrounded it.

_There! Unguarded!_ Again, Kirby spat out the electric rock, but instead of making contact, it bounced against the barrier and slammed back into Kirby's face, jettisoning the yellow and brown crystal from his mouth. After his vision stopped blurring, Kirby rolled to his side just in time to see the crystal shatter. _OK, so it doesn't work all of the time_.

The surrounding orb split off from the larger one and drifted about the darkness. As they bobbed, they stretched and split into smaller pairs of orbs, but then three orbs vanished while the remaining three solidified. Remembering his last attempt at touching anything this cube produced, Kirby inhaled one orb and, after swallowing, burped a puff of smoke.

As the purple began to fade from the orb, Kirby took a quick chance and, to his surprise, threw a bomb that exploded upon contact at the last second. The orb glowed when the bomb made its mark, yet still managed to revert back to the cube.

_I see. So you are not just a simple colored piece of fluff._ One of the polygon's eyes began blinking out of control like an ant had crawled inside and made its territory. The polygon then split apart back into the snapping cutter again.

Kirby stood back and removed the black crystal from his mouth. _One of those things has to be usable_. As the cutter snapped through the darkness, Kirby blinked. The first blade slashed through the darkness with its teeth, the second just skirted above the darkness, but the third one could not reach the void at all. _There it is!_ As soon as the blades flew upward, Kirby threw the crystal towards the smaller blade and a new crystal had been formed.

He steered clear of the snapping blades just in time to absorb the crystal. He enjoyed the familiar sense of power as, in an instant; he threw out a black star that attached itself to the middle blade. It exploded and caused the blades to slow down. As the blades devoured the left wall of the darkness, Kirby flung his arm forward again and another star stuck to the first cutter and exploded.

The middle blade hung without motion between the other two blades. Kirby narrowed his eyes and noticed the cutters begin to flicker on and off, but before it could transform back into the polygon, Kirby flung another star and it stuck to the largest blade. When it exploded, all three of the blades caught ablaze and reverted back to the cube in an instant.

_Less red eyes this time_, Kirby thought as he watched the polygon's rotation slow. No longer the rapid spin when the darkness first appeared. _I have to be getting closer._ He pulled out two ninja stars and waited for the next transformation.

The temperature dropped as the polygon solidified.

"Great. The ice cube again." Kirby flung both stars toward the cube, but bounced against the barrier and exploded at opposite ends of the barrier. Kirby shrugged as he removed the green and black crystal and threw it towards the darkness. "Well, there goes that idea." Kirby leapt on top of the first spinning cube and absorbed the cube next to it. A cold spray burst from his mouth and cascaded across the center cube.

All of a sudden, the center cube began to spin faster. The surrounding cubes circled the block just as fast and before Kirby could lose his food _and_ the power, he leapt towards the center cube. Upon grabbing it, Kirby felt pain shoot up and down his body like needles slicing through exposed flesh. As the cube continued to spin, Kirby inhaled as much air as he could and let out more frozen air than he wanted to.

The ice from Kirby's mouth covered the entire cube and all of the cubes surrounding the center one stopped. One by one, the cubes fell to the ground and plummeted into the darkness. The ice cube in the center warbled and shook and shattered. The polygon returned, but this time, three red eyes lost their color. Three more black spaces decorated the polygon.

Kirby removed the blue crystal and waited for the next transformation. _It can't be much longer now._

Purple bled over the polygon turned orb, but the surrounding orbs spun faster than before. Aside from splitting off, each of the four orbs solidified within ten seconds of each other.

_It doesn't matter how I do this now._ Kirby floated towards the two nearest orbs and absorbed both. _It can't hold the entire transformation anymore._

Out of Kirby's mouth emerged four rockets. Two spiraled and spun towards the two remaining purple orbs, the other two crashed dead center into the middle orb. Before the orb could even revert back to the polygon, the color disappeared until it became as blank as paper plate in a snowstorm.

Its shape altered between the sphere to the polygon to the frozen cube, but as soon as it became the cube again, it screeched in pain and morphed back into the polygon.

_What are you?_

The darkness surrounding Kirby alternated between an empty void and the empty hall in the bowels of Ripple Star, but the darkness regained its composure for the moment.

The fireball reappeared. Except this time, without floating to the left or right, fiery pillars burst from the core in six directions.

Kirby sidestepped one pillar, leapt past another, and almost missed having his head incinerated when he stopped just in time before another.

_I am the darkness that has plagued you for so long, star warrior._

Kirby completed assembling two fiery cores and leapt into the air.

_You act as if you understand the young fairy's plight, but you know nothing of the pain of loss._

As Kirby inched forward, he allowed the burning sensation to envelop him as he became a raging fireball.

_Your power is inferior to that of mine. And of his. Your power comes as a response to a need to aid the fairy, not of your own volition._

The fireball surged through the flaming core and into the edge of the dark void. Again, an explosion pleased Kirby's ears as he turned around and saw but just two eyes remaining.

_What pushes you, star warrior? You believe destroying my essence will rid the world of evil, of this planet's plight? Have you no sense of rational thinking?_

The spiked ball.

Kirby discarded one half of his red elemental crystal just as the spikes began to extend around him.

_Does a glowing crystal ensure a life of peace if the planet holding it could be corrupted as it was?_

When he heard the clang of his crystal crashing into one of the spiky ends, Kirby leapt into the air with as much power as his feet would let him. He absorbed the crystal and faced the spiked ball. His body twisted and shifted as he took the shape of a bow. A flame tipped arrow centered on the ball.

_Why do you allow an entire planet's fate to rest on _your_ shoulders? What business do you have to interfere with the fairy's life? Do you even know who she is?_

The arrow struck the dead center of the orb. All of a sudden, the remaining spikes embedded in the darkness vanished. The spiked orb split down the middle and cracked to reveal the polygon, now filled with black holes.

Kirby landed on the void. "I know more about her than you ever will." He turned around to face the now trembling polygon. "I also know this."

The polygon convulsed and shook, then expanded until it reached each edge of the darkness, the hard shell holding it together cracking and breaking in every direction. Kirby watched with unmoving eyes as the polygon exploded into hundreds of small fragments.

"You cannot stand against the light."

As the darkness began to slither back up the wall, removing any sense of fear and dread, Kirby's heart rate slowed. The loss, the despair that plagued him and ripped apart his soul now retreated to the ceiling and slinked through the cracks of the wall. Those glaring red eyes would now stumble in darkness forever as the last of the empty void vanished, leaving a glowing orb in its place.

Kirby held a hand in front of his face; this light shined brighter than Magman's flames or the blazing sun atop Rock Star. He approached the light with the cautiousness of a child experimenting with their first electrical socket. As he reached out to touch the light, he heard the door at the end of the room open.

The red of Adeleine's hat was the first thing Kirby saw as the artist came running out with her hands extended. "Kirby! He's alive, you guys!" Instead of a simple hug, Adeleine tackled the pink puffball to the bottom of the stairs. "Yes! You did it!"

Waddle Dee preferred to walk. "Kirby, are you alright?"

_That little runt did it._ Dedede shook his head. He placed his hammer on the ground and chuckled. "OK, I'll admit it: you did good, pink. I could've done it in half the time but-"

"Everyone."

The lack of urgency in Ribbon's voice had everyone look in her direction as she approached the glowing orb. The orb's glow began to flicker as the thin outline of a shard appeared from within. Ribbon took out the shard from her dress and held it alongside the orb. In a twisted show of what Kirby perceived to be magic, the two orbs of light joined.

A brilliant radiance emerged from within and the five felt their bodies lift from the ground.

Adeleine kicked and tried to touch the ground again. Hey, what's going on?

They vanished.

* * *

The orb reappeared before Queen Gretchen's castle. At once, with all purity now retained within the shard once again, the dazzling light shined in every direction, casting the clout of dark clouds out of the sky. The sun at last could shine down on Ripple Star as every single visible remnant of evil, of every despicable thought and creature that had plagued the planet for so long, scurried into the air.

Now without the stench of evil to mist its eyes, the heart of Ripple Star smiled again as its joyful glow shined across the galaxy. It watched with the utmost glee as the Dark Matter dashed out of its view and, with any luck, into a burning blaze of finality.

Ribbon's heart beat slowed and she held her hand in front of her face. The blue skies. The castle. The _queen's castle_. She could see it. She could see it all in front of her- not a dream, not some vision, not a trick her mind or Dark Matter had played on her. No, what she had hoped and prayed for had come to past. Those days spent running from snapping crabs and avoiding a volcanic eruption or those nights crying herself to sleep- no more.

Ribbon's mouth twitched and threatened to erupt into a full smile.

She allowed it.

Waddle Dee narrowed his eyes. "Not sure why the Dark Matter is just flying away, but-"

"I know what it means!" Adeleine cut him off and rushed forward. "We fought and fought, but we never had a doubt in our mind! But now-"

Dedede crossed his shoulders in triumph. Kirby and Ribbon threw their arms into the air, and Adeleine lifted a still skeptical Waddle Dee into the air as they all shared the same collective notion:

"WE DID IT!"

"Ribbon!"

Ribbon stopped and saw the familiar faces of Emily and Dixie, along with most of Ripple Star's inhabitants, rushing towards her. The onslaught of fairies made Ribbon freeze in mid flight as her friends returned to her.

"Ribbon, my goodness, you made it!" Dixie engulfed Ribbon in a heavy hug. "I thought the Dark Matter had corrupted you and...my word, is that the Shard?"

The Shard moved to the center of the crowd, which parted to reveal the individual standing at the center.

"I always knew you would succeed, my Ribbon."

Fresh streams of tears now raced down Ribbon's cheeks as the kind, innocent smile of Queen Gretchen greeted her again. Her wings fluttered as she flew into the Queen's arms.

"My queen! I can't believe it! I'm home!"

The crowd erupted into applause and cheers, while Kirby and the others stood in the back.

"Don't we get a fanfare, too?" Adeleine asked before Dedede slapped the back of her head.

"You're ruining the moment, artist."

"Come on, guys. Let's go meet the queen."

As Kirby, Adeleine, and Dedede rushed into the crowd, Waddle Dee looked out of the corner of his eye. For a second, he could have sworn on his life that a red eye shrouded in darkness had blinked at him from behind a tree. But he rubbed his eyes and saw nothing but a tree. Just a tree.

"I'm seeing things."

Ribbon turned at the sound of Adeleine's voice. She then faced the Queen. "My lady, these are the ones responsible for ridding our planet and this galaxy of the darkness. I owe them-_we_ owe them everything." She flew into the air to address the crowd. "Citizens, I give you our warriors of the light! Kirby, the star warrior. King Dedede, the strong. Waddle Dee, the intelligent. And young Adeleine-"

The artists face beamed.

"Such a young, nave girl."

And then she frowned

"Together, they joined and overcame the evil known as Dark Matter!"

Louder applause stretched across the village as the Queen made her way towards Kirby.

"Young star warrior, we are forever grateful for your efforts." The Queen bowed, her crown and glasses almost falling off in the process. "Forgive my clumsiness. It would take a miracle to keep my composure."

"A _what_?" Waddle Dee asked himself.

Kirby nodded. "Think nothing of it, Miss Gretchen. We did what we had to and we're just glad your planet's not so cloudy anymore. But we must return."

"What?" Adeleine yelped from behind Kirby.

"Artist, we have to go back to Pop Star. Ribbon is back on her planet with the Shard, so we should head back to our own planet, too," Dedede added.

The queen nodded. "I am sorry that you must leave us so soon, star warrior, but we do have a ship prepared that travels across the galaxy. Please take it as a token of our gratitude."

They turned to see a yellow pod aligned with hearts open up. Adeleine scurried inside, followed by Dedede and Waddle and-

"Kirby?"

Ribbon floated to Kirby's side. "Thank you. I owe you my life and everything I have. You gave me faith, the motivation to go on and I will never forget you for that."

Kirby refused to let himself cry. He blinked over and over until the urge passed. His friend, a sister who he had come to love through the bond they forged, would now return to her place on her planet and his place on Pop Star. "Ribbon, you became, you are, and always will be my friend." He extended his hand. And believe me, I will be back. Pop Star is just a few planets away."

Ribbon extended her own hand until it met Kirby's. A light glowed between them- one bright enough to make even the Queen squirm- and the bond they had created would never be broken.

Kirby took as much time as he could to back into the pod. When he did, he looked to Waddle Dee. "What's wrong?"

"This ship just doesn't seem like it's built to travel all the way back to Pop Star, much less one planet."

"I'm sure that'll change once we get into the air," Adeleine responded.

The five of them stared at each other for the last time. No more of Dedede's nighttime stories or Adeleine's complaining. No more swinging over vines or riding dangerous mine cart rides. They had lived to triumph over darkness and now their time together had ended.

The ship lifted into the sky and without waiting for a last goodbye, it soared upwards and away from Ripple Star in a flash of light.

Ribbon continued to wave until she could not see the ship any longer. She sighed and embraced the shard. "Kirby. Such a nice name. I know I haven't seen the last of him."

Before Ribbon could continue, she heard the Queen chuckle. But no one else laughed or heard anything funny. The Queen held down her head and moved her fingers as if playing an invisible piano.

"Oh, little fairy, you have no idea. You have done me a great service. In addition to delivering the completed Crystal Shard right to me, you have rid us of that pink irritation and solidified my grasp on this planet." She removed her glasses. "And the invasion shall continue without his interference."

As the Queen raised her head, Ribbon looked, and then held her chest as the Queen stared back at her with devilish purple eyes.

"You're-!"

The Queen's hand lashed out and grabbed Ribbon before she could finish.

From behind every home, through every crack and out of every tunnel, remnants of Dark Matter crawled from their hiding space as, bit by bit, darkness inched its way back over Ripple Star.

The fairies of Ripple Star screamed and ran in every direction to avoid darkness once again.

* * *

Up in the air, if Kirby had tried hard enough, he could have been able to hear the cries of help from Ripple Star's fairies.

However, they would have been by Waddle Dee's, Adeleine's, Dedede's and his own screams as their pod, already out of energy, plummeted back down towards Ripple Star.

* * *

Note: Phew. This took longer than I thought. I know I rushed on the ending scene, but Im sure youll be able to figure out why. Also, I had to have Kirby go through trial and error during the battle so it would not end in an instant. Hope you enjoyed the read.


	31. The Last Shard

**Chapter 31: The Last Shard**

**

* * *

**

Night.

Darkness eclipsed the sun. Dark clouds drifted overhead as Dark Matter wormed its way back into every crack, hole, and anything it could corrupt as evil spread across Ripple Star. The feeling of absolute joy had been clawed away as darkness ripped through the fabric of the planet.

The Queen grasped the Crystal Shard with one hand and tightened her grip around Ribbon's neck with the other. "You _will_ watch your planet die, young one."

As Ribbon struggled for air, she watched the Crystal Shard leave the Queens hand and float before her. The second Ribbon extended her hand, she blinked and opened her eyes again as she realized her world had gone black.

Darkness extended as far as her eyes could see. Ribbon looked around and banged on the Dark Matter orb surrounding her, but the Queen turned back to the Shard.

"As you know, when the Crystal Shard is complete, it has the power to perform any miracle of the user." She looked to Ribbon, then the Shard again and extended her hands. "Now, mystical Crystal Shard, as the new overlord of this galaxy, grant me the strength to conquer these people, conquer this planet, crush the life out of those who wish to stand against me."

The Shard shined, piercing the ever growing darkness with its light, yet with an almighty crash, a familiar yellow pod smashed through the ground and continued further into the depths of the planet.

"That star warrior is a true nuisance." The Queen turned around, her purple eyes penetrating the Dark Matter orb and peering into Ribbons soul. Her lip twitched before turning into a sick grin. "Wouldn't you agree, young fairy?"

Ribbons hand slid across the dark orb. She closed her eyes and let her head hang as darkness continued to spread over the planet. "Kirby, help us..."

Light spread from the Crystal Shard.

* * *

Kirby, Waddle, Adeleine and Dedede tumbled in rapid spin cycle mode as the pod crashed deeper into Ripple Star. They _had_ saved the planet and the galaxy, right? All of the darkness had disappeared, or at least gone away, so why the bad luck all of a sudden?

Adeleine slammed into Kirby's plush body, bouncing her into a lever sent pain ringing through her right knee. Her wail lasted for two whole minutes before she realized the pod had stopped moving.

"You can let go, artist," Dedede told Adeleine, her arms still wrapped around his foot.

Kirby pushed the pod open and adjusted to the darkness. A thick blanket of darkness covered the ceiling window. Remains of a Plugg sparked in one corner of the room, a Bouncy's spring had been embedded in the center of the red and orange painted sun. The cold silence of the room punctuated the feeling of despair emanating from across Ripple Star as Adeleine plopped on the ground.

The colors that once lit the room had been extinguished as black tendrils crept in from all corners. Adeleine took out one of her markers and, like an athlete that already knew they would not win a medal, flung the item across the room with the least bit of strength. Her arm flailed back and forth like a loose noodle as she kicked the ground and snorted. She ignored the tentacle snapping back and slicing her paintbrush in half.

Outside, a small colony of bloodshot eyes began to materialize. Soon, red and black bled into one another as the darkness banged on the windows. Dedede clutched his hammer despite his shaking flippers.

"Come on."

Black tendrils slithered at a slugs pace down the wall as Kirby, Dedede and Waddle Dee backed against each other.

"Why even bother?"

Kirby looked at Adeleine.

"We got the shards, risked our butts out there, and now you're telling me the planet's _still_ doomed?"

Sick as cancer, bitter as death, the tendrils chewed through the walls. Rubble crashed on the ground as Adeleine stood to her feet. She took out a red soaked paintbrush and pointed at Kirby.

"This was never our fight, Kirby! Now we're gonna die because you joined up with Ribbon on this stupid quest and dragged us into it!"

Eyebrows narrowed, teeth clenched, Kirby snorted as he refused to become a scapegoat. A blob of darkness splashed near his feet as he turned around.

"Hey! Well, what about Waddle Dee? _He_ was the first one to join me and Ribbon. If you ask me, this whole thing is his fault."

"Excuse me?"

The glass groaned under pressure as cracks raced across the glass. Dark Matter crashed harder against the glass.

Dedede set down his hammer. "Everyone, please. Let's not blame each other. We all know this is the artist's fault."

"What?"

Waddle Dee rushed over to the startling artist. "He's right! You and those stupid paintings and your whining almost got us killed!"

A tentacle snaked around Adeleine's feet and with a whip, flung her across the room. Her body rang as it slammed against the wall. She rolled to the one side, gasping for air. "Where's the darkness coming from?"

Dedede whirled around and faced Kirby, pointing his hammer. "Didn't you get rid of it?"

"Yeah! I mean, it looked like it all went away." Kirby didn't hide the doubt in his voice as it trailed off.

Waddle leapt back to avoid the tentacles rushing at his feet. "Well, that's just great, Kirby. You can stop a volcano and some talking tree, but not a bit of Dark Matter after all this time!"

"Don't yell at him! He did more than either of you put together!"

Both Dedede and Waddle turned on Adeleine. They exchanged a look, then gazed back at Adeleine.

"And just what did you contribute to this whole game? Paint stuff that comes to life. That's a nice power you've got there, artist," Dedede said.

"Not to mention making Ribbon even more annoying than before with your pouting and yelling and always having to make more paint!"

Adeleine took out a paintbrush and charged towards the two, but the second Dedede raised his hammer, she pulled back as Dedede smashed a hole in the space between them- shattering the center of the painted sun.

A beat.

Two beats. After a third beat, the Dark Matter smashed through the glass. Darkness crawled up each wall as Kirby found himself getting colder.

"Watch it, Dedede! You could've killed me!"

Dedede took a moment to catch his breath. He'd brought down his full weight with the hammer and his eyes widened when he noticed the huge crater he'd left impacted into the ground.

"Yeah!" Adeleine jumped in. "You could've killed him, me, or even crushed this shard piece here."

Kirby whirled around and saw, no, it couldn't have been. Ribbon had everything, right?

Yet there in Adeleine's hand was a piece of the Crystal Shard. Kirby rushed towards Adeleine, whose own eyes widened when she realized what she had been holding.

"Adeleine, where did you find that?"

"It was right-" She paused and peered into the center of the sun painting. "Right in there."

Light flashed against all corners of the room, forcing the Dark Matter to retreat through the windows.

Adeleine's hands shook while the others around her remained transfixed.

"We must've missed it when we came through here the first-"

Before Adeleine could finish, Dedede clamped his flipper over Adeleine's mouth.

"Hold on, if we have _this-"_

Kirby, Waddle Dee and Dedede exchanged glances before they each came to the same sudden realization. After Dedede took Adeleine on his back, the four rushed through the door.

* * *

The Queen clenched the Shard hard enough to shatter it with each passing second. The bright light that once radiated from the Shard flickered on and off until it lost its glow. The Queen narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she looked to Emily.

"You fairies continue to withhold your precious secrets from me," she started, her voice becoming distorted. "Tell me _why_ I do not feel incredible power or this planet, starting with the nuisance fairy, turns to dust!"

When Emily didn't respond, the Queen grabbed a hold of her neck with one hand and tightened her grip.

Ribbon watched from within the sphere and crashed against it as much as she could before the pain rang in her head more than she wanted it to. She pounded against it with one hand, clawed with another, but just saw bruises and peeled skin on her hands as a reward. As she locked eyes with Emily, she saw her friends eyes begin to lose color.

Another fairy latched onto the Queens back, making her lose her grip on Emily. In return, she sliced across the fairy's face with one of the Shards ends. A red streak decorated Emily, now clutching her face and scrambling to get away before the Queen dragged her back. Instead of killing the fairy, the Queen brought her to the orb that held Ribbon.

"Fairy of Ripple Star, _this_ is the price you pay for trying to stop me!" The Queen's eyes, now flickering between purple and red, focused on Emily. She set the Shard down and thrust her hand upon Emily' head.

Ribbon banged against the orb as darkness spread from the Queen's hand and onto Emily. The body flung and kicked for life like being dragged for a surprise shot until it went limp. Lifeless. Silent.

Emily floated to the ground. Blackness spread from her fingertips, down her hair and to her shoes. Red bled into her eyes and her uniqueness faded as she inched towards the orb. Without hesitation, she banged on the orb with a zombie's determination. She bit on it, kicked at it, clawed with all her strength to kill the rogue fairy within.

From the other side, the Queen chuckled. "You fairies are so simple to corrupt." With one motion, the Queen slammed the Crystal Shard into the orb, shattering it. Before Ribbon could fly away, the Queen seized one hand while Emily grabbed the other. The Queen stopped Ribbon's struggling by holding the Shard to her neck. "You have caused me enough problems, fairy."

* * *

"That would explain why all the darkness hasn't disappeared!"

"I know, now lets go! The exits right through the next room!"

* * *

The Queen backhanded Ribbon across the face. Ribbon gritted her teeth as the stinging rang in her cheek. She dropped her head just before the Queen lifted it so they faced each other.

"I shall spare you a speech. I just want to see the face of the pest who tried to stop me before I kill them."

* * *

"Puffball, you ready?"

"Do it!"

* * *

"Ripple Star is mine!"

The weight of a hammer slammed into the Queen. The full force of the pink sphere sent her flying into the fountain and the Shard out of her hand.

"With her master attacked, Emily let out a horrible wail before falling under the weight of Waddle Dee's foot."

Ribbon's hands flew across her body as she searched for any Dark Matter that may have infected her. Heart rate normal. No loss of blood. No loss of thought.

"Ribbon?"

And there stood Kirby. She smiled and took his hand before enveloping him in a full hug.

"I thought you all had left! I was so-"

"No time for that, Ribbon. We've gotta finish this!"

Ribbon turned around and saw Dedede and Adeleine running towards them. Her eyes focused on the glowing piece in Adeleine's hand. Then her eyes widened in amazement as she turned to Kirby, then the Crystal Shard.

"That's why the Queens ritual didn't work. Ribbon looked to Kirby. No one can take full use of an incomplete Crystal Shard."

Adeleine gave the shard to Ribbon, who then lifted the Crystal Shard.

Again, a brilliant flash radiated from the Shard as the new fragment joined the larger Shard. The light pierced the darkness. The black void rejected the light and rushed into the sky. It soared towards one edge of the planet before exploding into nothing.

No just flying away. No just scurrying away for a brief moment. The remaining darkness that had hid under every rock and inhabited every soul vanished. Emily lost her ire. From her eyes she could see light instead of darkness.

Before the five could celebrate, the Shard began to shine.

The Queen crawled from the fountain and pointed to Ribbon before noticing the Shard.

"No-"

Without warning, a white beam shot from the Shard and surged through the Queen's heart. A burning pain in her throat robbed her of speech. Darkness clashed with light as the Queen's vision blurred between day and night. One fatigued arm reached out to point at Ribbon, yet a thick, black substance began to evaporate from all over her body.

The darkness ripped through her arms, creating open sores. The Queen's head thrashed against the ground, her voice straining for release. _"I will not lose this vessel_."

Her body lifted into the air as she gave up the darkness. The evil surrounding her grew in size. It loomed overhead before shooting into the sky. Without exploding.

Ribbon looked up and saw the darkness expand until it took the shape of its own planet. She blinked. "Zero?"

"Ribbon, how do you know about-"

"Watch my Queen! Everyone, please wait here!"

She took off towards the castle.

Dedede set his hammer down. "Now how are we supposed to get up there?"

* * *

Ribbons wings fluttered with a determination she hadn't seen in them before. She rushed through the castles halls in search of it. _I hoped that we would never have to use this_.

* * *

"We cant fly up there. I don't think I trust this planets transportation system anymore."

Before Dedede could respond to Adeleine's assertion, Ribbon rushed back towards the four of them with empty hands.

"Ribbon, we don't have a way of getting up there."

Kirby kicked the ground. "If I just had my Warp Star phone."

"What?"

"I use this star rod thing to contact a Warp Star that can get me around to any planet, but I haven't been able to find it. I think I lost it on a star ride I went on. Its small, yellow and pink and written in big bold letters is-"

"Super star?"

Kirby turned to Ribbon, who removed said rod from her pocket. "I found it days before Dark Matter attacked our planet. Here you are."

"Oh, thank the stars, Ribbon! I was wondering where this was! Now..."

Kirby dialed a few numbers as a star shaped antenna came out of one end of the rod. It rang and rang, but no response. Kirby pressed his ear to the phone and listened so much he did not hear the incoming noise.

"Kirby?"

"Not now, Waddle. I've almost got it!"

"Fine."

Waddle Dee, Adeleine and Dedede all took two steps back as a giant yellow star slammed into the ground and sent Kirby flying into a tree.

The Warp Star hummed in a low murmur. After grabbing the Crystal Shard, Ribbon observed the structure while Waddle, Dedede and Adeleine hopped aboard. Several fairies approached the Queen as Ribbon turned around.

"Go, Ribbon. They'll need you up there."

At this point, Kirby had sprinted from the tree and hopped onto the shard.

"Star warrior?" One of the fairies called out. "It's almost over. We here are forever in your debt. We beg of you: come back in one piece."

Kirby said nothing for a few seconds before giving them an assuring grin. "Don't worry, everyone. We're on it."

After Ribbon boarded the Shard, the Star lifted into the air until the fairies of Ripple Star looked like nothing more than colored dots on a map.

* * *

As the Star left Ripple Star air space, Kirby looked to the dark mass in the center of the galaxy. Should he say something? Some kind of reassuring speech to get everyone motivated? Or had they done enough of that between Shiver Star and Ripple Star?

But as Kirby looked around, he saw the same burning determination in everyone else's eyes. Dedede clenched his hammers, Adeleine had a brush at the ready, Waddle Dee remained as fierce as always, and Ribbon held the Shard like a weapon instead of a child. Upon seeing this, Kirby nodded without a word and looked to the darkness.

"Let's go."

The Warp Star rushed towards the dark planet.

* * *

A bloodshot eye was all the color that stood against the expansive dark void, for the moment.

"Welcome back, star warrior."


	32. Light Beneath the Darkness

**Chapter 32: Light Beneath the Darkness**

* * *

The five saw darkness all around them.

Ribbon could not tell when she blinked. Just the glow of the Crystal Shard provided the one source of light as the Warp Star made its way through endless rows of dark clouds. _What little life this planet may have had must have been corrupted_, Ribbon thought.

"The Dark Matter must have used the Queen's body as a holding space-"

"Because no one would even suspect that the _Queen of Ripple Star-"_ Adeleine made a dignified gesture with her hand, "-could ever be made evil."

"Yes." A brief annoyance flashed on Ribbons face at Adeleine's interruption. "Yet when the complete Shard exposed the darkness within my Queen, it couldnt use her as a vessel anymore and became...this." Ribbon could not describe the everlasting darkness without using the word 'dark.'

A Dark Matter sphere struck the right of the Warp Star, throwing Adeleine off of her feet. Kirby guided the Star further toward what he hoped was the center of the planet. With a black void greeting him in every direction, he had as much success as he would have reading a map written in black crayons.

Dedede leaned forward to help Adeleine up, but a second sphere zipped past him, stinging his beak. He maintained his stern composure and batted away small dark spores littering his beak. The penguin readied his hammer and swung into the darkness with no success.

Waddle Dee jumped over another orb that just missed his feet. A violent wind tossed the Warp Star further into the void.

"What the heck's wrong with this planet?" Kirby yelled.

"All this darkness in one place must be making it unstable," was Waddle Dee's best guess. "But maybe with the Shard here, too-"

An explosion of darkness did more than throw off Waddle Dee's thought; it threw the Warp Star into a frenzy that sent the five spiraling further into the depths of the planet. In separate directions. With no prior knowledge of Dark Star or even how to begin _thinking_ how one would navigate through the sphere.

And alone.

* * *

_Wake up, star warrior. Wake up. I am not finished with you yet._

Kirby's head ached- that feeling of not wanting to start the day hit him as he struggled to flex his arms. He won the battle of raising his head and saw an elemental crystal a few feet away from him. His pudgy arms stretched out to grab it before it shattered.

Eyes lowered, feet springing to life, Kirby tried to stand, but what seemed like hours of fatigue hit him as he stumbled back. Endless clouds of crimson fog met his eyes. The wind howled with the shrieks of many lost souls. _Get up, already. Stand_, Kirby thought to himself as his hands and feet shook with anticipation and nervousness.

As he stumbled to the end of the red hexagon he stood on, he planted his right foot firm on the platform and began gasping for air. He looked around. "Ribbon? Waddle?" He paused. "Artist?"

No one. Just a few mindless N-Z creatures pacing back and forth as if waiting for an epiphany to hit them. Kirby inched towards the edge of the platform and floated through the air. Except he didnt float. His body crashed against the next platform as more exhaustion hit his body.

The N-Z charged towards Kirby, who craned forward far enough to inhale the black ball. Kirby's face soured at the taste of emptiness. He turned to his left and spat the N-Z right into another on another platform next to him. Kirby blanched. "At least the ones on Pop-Star have _some_ kind of taste to them." He sighed and leapt to the next platform. _I'm talking to myself already._

Refusing to amuse the other N-Zs, Kirby huffed and charged into the air- expecting to drop like an anchor again- when he regained control of his body and managed to float over the multitude of scarlet hexagons.

Then he reached a dead end. He peered over the edge and nothing but red clouds again. His foot shook. This wasnt like Shiver Star where Zebons could guide him down. He sat on the ground and groaned. "Now what?"

The platforms behind him rumbled. All of a sudden, one of the hexagons burst into the air, followed by a familiar red puffball.

"So here's where you ended up!"

A familiar face brought Kirby to his feet. "Waddle! But how'd you get up here?"

Waddle Dee motioned to the contraption with rockets strapped to his back. "That artist _can_ make anything work."

"But if you found her, why'd you come up here?"

"The Warp Star went missing, so I thought I'd check up here, but I haven't seen it. What about you?"

Kirby shook his head. "No idea."

A beat, then Waddle Dee spoke again. "Well, we better head down here. Dedede said he may have an idea."

Kirby watched Waddle Dee jump down the hole. As he approached the gap, he wondered just how it took the others no time to regroup. Or maybe just more time had passed than he thought.

Adeleine's welcoming interrupted Kirby's thoughts as he and Waddle Dee landed next to the artist, who had enough time to not only remove her easel and paint supplies, but paint a juicy looking tomato to hand to Kirby just as he landed.

"Kirby, I thought you would have turned into some kinda 'evil dark black Kirby' with zombie eyes or something!" Adeleine stretched her hands outward to simulate a zombie's walk.

Kirby, too focused on his quick snack, looked back to Waddle. "But how? When we got to the planet, we couldn't see anything _but_ darkness. Now this?"

"All the Dark Matter spheres that weve seen had that red eye." Waddle looked around. "Sky's red. Maybe we're at the heart of the planet."

"You mean we're in the eye's heart? How does that even work?" Adeleine asked.

"We went into a volcano without melting and you're questioning _this?"_ Kirby ended the debate there and looked into the distance. "If that's Dedede, it looks like he wants us to come over."

"Yeah, that's what I meant by the idea part," Waddle added.

The three leapt two chasms, Adeleine taking longer due to gathering up her art supplies, and approached Dedede, who clutched his hammer with pride as he kept his eyes trained on Kirby.

"Well, there ya are." Dedede didn't try to hide the annoyance in his voice. "Ribbon's up there and says she needs your help looking through the sky for the Warp Star."

"But what about you all? If Adeleine can paint stuff to fly with, then we all-"

"She asked for _you_, Kirby," Waddle interrupted. "Besides, we can cover a lot more-I was gonna say ground, but theres not a lot of ground here anyway, so we can get down here. You and Ribbon should take the sky." Kirby gave him a skeptical glance. "You should take the red clouds."

Realizing he couldn't win the argument, Kirby sighed in acceptance. "Fine. All right, Adeleine, paint me another of those fancy jet planes."

"If you could take two steps forward, puffball, she'll get right on it," came Dedede's response.

Not understanding the correlation, Kirby obliged and walked forward, not noticing the hexagon he stood on had a light shade of blue and not the crimson of the others. "I don't see the point in moving here when she could just-"

Kirby didn't get to finish his sentence, for Dedede had slammed his hammer into an emerald hexagon in front of him, bouncing Kirby off of the blue platform and high, high, higher towards Ribbon.

As Kirbys voice trailed off, Waddle Dee looked to Adeleine. "Rubber hexagons? What made you think he'd fall for that?"

Adeleine snorted. "Hey, it worked."

* * *

"-and that way, I could be up in the sky in no time," Kirby's voice trailed off when he noticed the red clouds fly past him until, all of a sudden, he stopped.

"So could you jump this fast the entire time?"

That familiar voice brought sweet relief to Kirby as he found himself caught by Ribbon's embrace. He would have said hello, if not for the strange jewel in her hand. He asked her what it was.

"This? Well, the Crystal Shard can be converted into a weapon that pierces the darkest of evil. We call it the Crystal Gun. I couldn't give it to you back on Ripple Star because we'd been separated, but I think I can use it to cut through the Dark Matter and get us back home."

"That's great," Kirby responded as he grew wary of being in the air. "Just make sure your wings dont get tired."

Ribbon laughed. "Don't you worry about me, Kirby. Just try not weigh me down with your-"

An explosion broke Ribbon's concentration. Pain singed her back as she lost her balance, causing her and Kirby to lower a bit.

_You die tonight, star warrior._

The air surrounding them chilled. Ribbon's hands shivered as she struggled to fly back up. As she regained altitude, her eyes met it.

A white orb.

The orb took shape, its ends extending in three segments, breaking apart to form blood tipped wings. Red bled into the center of the sphere, white bled into that until a perfect eye took form.

The wind murmured in a low hum as a dim light grew more brilliant above the top of the orb. The light expanded, curving itself into an oval of pure radiance.

It didn't have a spiteful laugh. It wasnt a spinning cube. This thing, was it an angel of some kind? It lived isolated in the darkness, yet represented one of the purest forms of innocence. Its eye leered towards the two with no contempt or hatred, but a blank stare: hard to interpret, easy to misinterpret.

Ribbon looked toward the ground, yet all she could see was a blanket of darkness. This thing floated in front of her, so why did she feel its ever-present gaze pierce her soul no matter where she looked? She closed her eyes, she still felt its gaze snake its way around her, tracing down her body and locking its gaze upon the Shard.

_Push. You continued to push._

Ribbon shrunk at the sound of its voice cutting through the darkness.

_You feel fear now. That shaking hand will not maintain its grip on your weapon of light, fairy. And yet, you are able _to _feel._

Its eye traveled towards Kirby.

_And you, star warrior. Your presence would again pain me, if I could feel pain at all._ A beat. _You remember me._

A statement, not a question.

Kirby released the grip on his eyes and saw it. Like spotting an old flame when she walked into town or refusing to look a bad grade in the eye, Kirby refused to believe that it existed. That it lived.

That it _survived_.

It growled with the low anticipation of an awakened tiger, yet it giggled with the excitement of a newborn having keys dangled in front of its face.

_You _do_ remember me_.

Its confirmation dripped with absolute certainty.

_It was no accident that you did not choke on the emptiness of space during your descent to the star warrior's planet, fairy. Miracle Matter served its role as a pawn._

Ribbon arched an eyebrow in mild curiosity.

_Your perseverance, your joys and supposed triumph over darkness, planet after planet, pushed you onward. Your planet, young fairy, serves as a bastion for all things pure and incorruptible. Your Shard represents all the good in the galaxy._

_But do the creatures in the dark feel any of this elation?_ Its tone grew venomous, like the tiger now ready to strike. _Do creatures of the dark feel at all? Should we be exiled to stumble in darkness, to suffer in sadness, while you continue to extinguish what little life we have?_

"You had your pawns try to kill me! Kill _us_!" Ribbons wings fluttered, her fists clenched.

_We exist in this universe just to suffer. Just to be extinguished by the light, and to die without being able to feel. Many of those creatures perish. Dark Star once existed as a planet without any source of light. If you ever experienced living in the light, you would agree that living in this planet would be enough._

_Do you believe that all beings, once they perish, leave this realm for eternal bliss? No! Those who failed to attain that type of glory reside in Dark Star. And their request for being rejected from what they perceive as paradise: to be punished for the lack of light in their life. As such, the cold and solitude became misery. This star warrior now twice refuses to acknowledge our plight. I've spent years listening to the wails of the damned. If we in this lost planet cannot be allowed to feel any semblance of joy, then all other entities in the cosmos should suffer in eternal darkness!_

The creature's eye widened as several bluish stars flew from the center. Those stars scattered into smaller stars and exploded mere inches from Ribbon's face.

Ribbon's wings sprung to life as she zipped back and forth to evade the explosions. "Kirby, fire the Shards!"

At once, Kirby gripped the Crystal Gun and fired all over the sphere, but the projectiles just bounced off of the orb.

_You said you wished to find the source of your planet's agony, young fairy. Are you satisfied?_

"Stop it!" Ribbon turned her head to the side and shut her eyes. A crimson fury came over her and she failed to notice the glistening star sneaking to her side. All of a sudden, noise rang in her ears as the explosion hurtled her and Kirby throughout the darkness.

Kirby felt Ribbon's iron grip loosen, but he refused to drop. He gripped her left hand and tried to speak over the fairy's wails. He focused his aim more on the sphere's center and his lip twitched in mild joy- and disgust- when red began to bleed down the sphere's eye. "Ribbon, its the eye!"

Ribbon shook her head. With her free hand, she wiped sweat from her forehead and avoided another series of explosions. The bangs still rocked her ears as she flew closer to the orb.

As Ribbon came up on the sphere's left, Kirby fired shard after shared into the orb's center. More red poured from its center and the halo atop flickered on and off with each penetrating shot. With a few more shots, the orb's wings extended at attention. "Ribbon, take me up!"

"What if it starts shooting again?"

"I think I know what I'm doing, now do it!"

Ribbon stared long and hard at Kirby, the closest she'd come to refusing his advice, before flying closer to the orb's top. Something about the intensity in his voice led her to believe he had the right idea. Her eyes widened at the sight of a bandage hiding beneath the halo.

_I _do_ remember some of this_, Kirby thought to himself. He shot a barrage of shards at the halo, the magnificent yellow changing to a pale green, then a blue that bled into red before the entire halo shattered.

"Down, down! We have to go under it now!"

Ribbon descended just as one of the orb's wings slammed into her body. Her body buckled downward and her ears rang. Her heart thundered as her left hand broke with a wet snap. Pain stabbed through her straining chest as she gaped for air, but she felt power coarse through her right hand as she guided Kirby toward the bottom of the flailing orb.

"There!" Kirby aimed the Crystal Gun at the long, green thorn-like tail swinging on the bottom of the creature. He fired shards through the green globs the orb spewed as a greenish liquid oozed down the tail.

Ribbon could not ignore the pain in her hand as she moved around the globs. The wind blown in her direction when the wings flapped whipped her hair back.

"We're almost there, Ribbon! Just a bit more!"

Just then, a glob struck Kirby's foot. A stinging sensation surged throughout his body as he felt the Crystal Gun slip a bit from his hand.

The thorn tail disappeared within the sphere as its eye rolled back into view.

_Happiness. Just a mere word. Sorrow and despair- that shall resonate throughout this galaxy. Do not resist._

Ribbon gripped Kirby's hand for life as she moved to the side, keeping away from the blast range of the explosions. "See if you can shoot its wings!"

An explosion blew Ribbon back, but aside from reminding her of the pain in her left hand, she survived.

Kirby fired at the crimson tips of the orb, the pain leaving his foot all of a sudden when the wingtips shattered into nothing.

_The ability to feel makes you weak, star warrior. The fairy burdens you, day after day. Do away with those emotions and cast her into darkness-_

A shard cut through the wingtips of the other wing. The orb's voice grew raspy, as if speaking with sandpaper rubbing against its throat.

_Your inner decay gave rise to this abyss. Give into it._

Kirby focused on the eye. The shards blasted from the gun one after another as Ribbon maneuvered with grace around the explosions.

"You don't have to tell me twice to just ignore that thing, Kirby!"

As Kirby continued to fire, he couldn't resist watching Ribbon banking left and right, evading dangers with a fierce determination he had seen in glimpses, but never for a continuous amount of time.

"I've had a bunch of things try and tell me to back off! All just pieces in this creature's game!"

"Ribbon-"

"I DIDN'T WATCH MY PLANET FALL TO DARKNESS OR SEE MY QUEEN CORRUPTED JUST SO I COULD DIE HERE!"

_Don't need to remind me_, Kirby thought, a smile forming across his face. He fired faster into the sphere's eye, blood staining the creature all over.

The halo began to crack again. Ribbon zipped towards it and Kirby unleashed a fast flurry of shards at the halo, almost without his command. The halo faded from yellow to green, from blue to red again until it vanished.

_Why, why cant I strike her again?_

"The wings, Ribbon! The wings! It's not going as fast as before!"

Ribbon soared to the sphere's soft underbelly as the swinging thorn tail came into view.

_Light has to be extinguished at some point._

Kirby fired shards through the globs, the sharp pain in his foot begging for attention. The tail shined with each shard cutting through it.

_You cannot outrun the darkness. No one can._

Several more shards impacted.

_You are soft and sympathetic, star warrior. Convincing you to abandon this parasitic fairy fell on deaf ears._

Kirby continued to fire.

_What are you doing? Do not ignore me! DO NOT THINK DARKNESS WILL FADE AWAY!_

The tail vanished. A beat, then a ray of light burst from the creature. Then a second, a third, too many for Kirby and Ribbon to keep count of.

"Did we-"

A low grumbling grew angrier like the tiger now ready to rip its captured prey to shreds. Ribbon couldnt tell if she trembled on her own or if that was the grumbling of the planet. Her eyes widened as the light grew brighter. Was this it? Did they succeed? Could they still lose?

More light shined.

"Ribbon-"

Ribbon struggled to swallow and ignored how fast she blinked. "It's for the best, Kirby. If this is where we end, at least the Shard will go with us. No evil shall try to corrupt it again and-" Ribbon's right hand gripped Kirby's. "-we are together."

Kirby closed his eyes, ready for the inevitable.

The light took over.

_You will never escape the dark. No one will._


	33. The Queen Awakens

**Chapter 33: Interlude- The Queen Awakens**

* * *

At first, she couldn't hear anything. Then, as her vision blurred back to life, noise poured in her ears like a gentle wave. She looked to her right and saw one of the fairies faces beam with delight as she motioned for others to join her. 'She's awake, she's awake,' she heard the fairy call.

Pain knifing at her forehead and her arms numb with paralysis, Queen Gretchen let out a simple groan as fairies gathered around her. She craned her head to the left and tried to lean forward when what felt like hours of fatigue struck her and her head crashed against a pillow.

"Not too fast, my Queen," Pixie, a fairy taller than most with vibrant green eyes, fluttered to Gretchen's side. "You have been unconscious for some time." She looked toward the window. "Some of the fairies managed to hold the darkness off for now." She took one of the Queen's hands with an affirming grip. "My Queen, I believe we may be able to rid this planet of the darkness once and for all."

Once and for all? At bay? Confusion flashed on Queen Gretchen's face as the other fairies around her gave each other reassuring smiles. Then, shock and fear struck the Queen's face. The Crystal Shard. Ribbon!

The Queen's hands trembled. "Where is Ribbon? Did she escape?" When no one answered, she pressed on. "Is she safe? Somebody answer me!"

Pixie raised her eyebrows in mild surprise as the Queen continued.

"I couldn't forgive myself if I sent her to her demise." Queen Gretchen lowered her head and ran a hand through her hair, her breath coming in labored puffs. "Taking on our Shard by herself, I should have sent someone else. What if she's been attacked? And what if Dark Matter managed to capture the Shard?"

Pixie motioned for Emily and several other fairies to join her in a corner. "What's going on here? She just saw Ribbon not that long ago."

Emily shook her head. "I know, I know, but something's off here. Let me try." Emily turned towards the Queen. "My Queen, what's the very last thing you remember?"

Despite the pain pressing her head, the Queen put a finger to her temple and shut her eyes as she tried to remember. After a few seconds, it hit her. "Yes, Dark Matter invaded the planet, and then Ribbon came rushing toward me." She moved her hands around to add visuals to the story. "Right, that's what happened. I put the Crystal Shard in her hand and told her to be strong and have faith." Her mood changed as she realized what happened next. "And then I sent her off into the galaxy by herself. My word, the tears in her eyes." She placed a hand over her face and sighed.

Not wanting to rush the Queen, Emily nodded. "It's okay, my Queen. Take your time."

Gretchen pinched the bridge of her nose. The sight of Ribbon flying through the depths of space, alone in the middle of nowhere, made her shake. Her fingers tapped at her nose without command. _No. Ribbon's stronger than that. Get it together, Gretchen. These fairies need you._ She lifted her head and let her shoulders drop. "Ribbon left, then this wave of black spilled into the room. Some orb with an eye talked about a vessel for their leader, Emperor Zero-" Gretchen paused, unable to recall everything. "-Zero something. I'm not sure, but then the darkness grew closer-"

"Then?"

The Queen looked towards her subjects. "Then I woke up."

"I see." Emily turned her back to the Queen and flew to Pixie's side. She spoke in a hushed voice so the Queen wouldn't hear her. "She doesn't remember anything that's happened all this time? How is that possible?"

"Dark Matters been inside of her body all this time. Until Ribbon and those friends of hers got back, we didn't even know that the real Queen wasn't with us." Pixie peeked over her shoulder to get a glimpse at the Queen's empty expression. "If something else had possession of her body, then its possible that she may not have been able to resist it."

"Our Queen is a born leader!" Tara, another fairy with flaming orange hair, argued. "There's no way she wouldn't be strong enough to stop something from taking over her body."

"True," Emily intervened, "but remember that when the Shards light struck the Queen, there was enough darkness in her to create an entire planet."

The other fairies nodded in agreement. After an uncomfortable silence, Emily approached the Queen's bedside.

"My Queen, Ribbon is fine. Dark Matter infected your body, but the Crystal Shard removed all traces of darkness from you. I don't know how Ribbon managed to do it, but she found a group of companions that helped her recover the Shard."

The Queen nodded, taking all of the information in at once. "Did I-did I harm any of you?"

Emily turned towards the other fairies. Pixie shook her head while the others looked towards the floor.

"No, my Queen. No one here noticed that you were not yourself until the Shard extracted the darkness."

"And where is Ribbon now?"

"The darkness within your body took the form of a planet." Pixie flew to Emily's side. "Ribbon and her friends got onto some kind of flying star and went towards it."

"And?"

Pixie let her shoulders drop. "That's all we know now, my Queen. The darkness on the planet is not as widespread as it was before and some of the fairies have managed to keep it at bay while Ribbon is on Dark Star. We don't know when she will return."

"Then we have to go after her." Queen Gretchen leaned forward, pushing up her glasses.

Pixie and Emily exchanged looks while behind them, Tara noticed more and more light shining through the windows. She approached one.

"My Queen, do we have any means of getting to Dark Star? And even then, Ribbon took the Shard with her. What good would we be without our planets most powerful weapon?"

"I don't care. I don't know everything that's happened, but one things for sure: I haven't been myself and if anything happened to Ribbon because I sent her on a suicide mission, I couldn't live with that."

"So what do we do?"

"Ribbon managed to fly away from here with the Crystal Shard. Of course that means some of you could fly to this Dark Star, correct?"

"My Queen, she had the Shard protecting her. We are just normal fairies. Without that protection, we wouldn't last for long in space."

Queen Gretchen narrowed her eyes. She hated getting into these back-and-forth conversations with the fairies. "Is there no one else brave amongst you that will put everything on the line and more, just as Ribbon did? No one who is willing to follow her example, to put their people and their planet before themselves? No one who-"

"Oh my word!"

Tara's sudden outburst interrupted the argument as the others looked towards the window. Tara floated away from the window, shock written on her face. She put a hand to her chest.

"Tara, what's wrong?"

"The darkness." She looked to the window. "It's starting to vanish, just out of thin air."

"Well, that's great!" Emily elbowed Pixie and the Queen sighed with relief, but Tara didn't share their joy. Emily noticed. "Come on, Tara, this is great news! It means that Ribbon did it! We've won!" Despite this, Tara's face didn't brighten and Emily's smile faded. "Tara, what else did you see?"

Tara turned away from the window and flew on the other side of the Queen's bed. She took her hand and shut her eyes as she let her head hang.

"Dark Star just exploded."

* * *

**_AN_**_: I feel this deserves an explanation. Going straight from Dark Star to the end seemed too rushed and this story doesn't spend a lot of time with the fairies, so I tried to give them the spotlight for a moment since the game doesn't give them many outside of a few cut scenes. Hope I didn't disappoint anyone expecting this to be about the aftermath of the battle on Dark Star. That being said, next up is the moment that's been approaching for a long time:_

_The final chapter._


	34. Crystal Clear?

Author's Note: And so, I cannot even keep my own promises. As it is, this will _not_ be the final chapter of the story. Yes, it will wrap up the majority of the plot points of the Kirby 64 storyline, but there _will_ be a final follow up to tie up a few remaining loose ends.

* * *

**Chapter 34: Crystal Clear?**

The familiar sound of something ready to explode grew as Kirby and Ribbon hardened their grips of each other's hand. The light continued to brighten. Ribbon ignored the lump in her throat.

Then they heard a voice.

"There they are! Guys, grab hold!"

* * *

The rumbling grew angrier, more impatient. Dark Matter stretched in several directions to break away from the planet, but no success. One last blood red eye struggled through the black void, but as the planet dragged it back, the eye caught a glimpse of a bright yellow star soaring away from the planet. On that star stood five individuals, all clinging to the star for dear life.

With nothing else to hide inside of, nothing else to corrupt or pollute, no more planets to defile, Dark Star, and all traces of Dark Matter within, exploded. From Ripple to Pop Star, one could make out a dark void cluttering space, but one could also rest easy knowing that same void exploded. Not flying to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, not taking the form of a Queen trying to defend her subjects. Gone.

For good.

* * *

Flying back and forth in the Queens room, Tara tried to assume a stern face and failed. Her wings fluttered with reckless care for the other fairies around her. She bit her right thumb and whirled around when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I know what I saw!"

Emily held her hands up in defense, but wore a strict face. "Tara, calm down!"

"No, she's not kidding," came Pixie's voice from the window. "There is no more Dark Star. Like she said, it's gone."

"Splendid." Queen Gretchen leaned to one side and ignored the ache clawing at her legs. "Well, we best tell everyone."

Pixie flew over toward the Queen. "But my Queen, you are in no condition to travel. Dark Matter has been inside of your body all this time. We have to run tests, we need to check your blood and make sure it is not still corrupted, we must make sure you are suitable enough to rule-"

"Do _not_ argue with me, Pixie." Gretchen caught the edge of the shelf as she caught her breath. "Dark Star is no more. What I need to do is go out there and lead this planet. No Dark Matter inside of my body." Gretchen's hand glided across the shelf until she found her crown, which she then placed on her head. She then made a sweeping motion with her hand. "Just us. Now, shall we?"

* * *

As the Warp Star sped through the galaxy, Ripple Star came closer into view.

"I can't believe it!" Adeleine threw her fist into the air and wrapped her other hand around Ribbon and Kirby like they were pillows. "You guys, us, we five-whatever! We did it!"

Adeleine then set the two down. Waddle Dee nodded in agreement while Dedede just sighed and set down his hammer.

"All right, I'll admit it: you did good, puffball." His attention zeroed in on Ribbon. "Fairy, what happened to your hand?"

Ribbon, still gasping for air, just pointed to it her broken hand and shook her head. The low, burned out flame in her body when she first fled Ripple Star grew into a flickering fire. It was over. No more Dark Matter. For the first time in a long time, she could look over her shoulder and not worry about darkness creeping up on her. Still too excited, unable to control the smile on her face and forgetting that she had wings, her legs went limp and she fell bonelessly backward onto her bottom.

"It's all over. It's all over. It is finished." She looked to the others. "No matter how many times I say that, it still sounds strange."

Ribbon must have struck a chord in Dedede because he gathered everyone in for a giant hug. For about five seconds. Then he set them down and regained his calm swagger.

"That did not just happen."

"No." Adeleine laughed like bells. "No one will know. Except for us. And all of the people that I tell." Adeleine felt Dedede's hammer at her back. "No one will know."

Ribbon chuckled and shook her head as the Warp Star entered Ripple Star air space.

* * *

Ripple Star. A peaceful, tranquil planet made obvious to many because of its heart shape. Many fairies lived there, but instead of going about their business, they spent the last few hours pushing Dark Matter away from their planet when it disappeared all of a sudden.

The sun burst forth from behind dark clouds as light passed over many fairies. They murmured and whispered instant rumors to each other when they heard someone clear their throat.

"Fairies of Ripple Star! The honorable Queen Gretchen!"

With Emily holding her hand, Queen Gretchen descended the stairs of her castle. The Queen gulped as a nervous bug bit at her stomach, but as the gaze of every fairy on the planet focused on her, she moved out of Emily's grasp and approached the center of the town square. Gretchen held a hand in the air and waited as the murmurs faded away.

Something about the stare in Queen Gretchen's eyes kept Pixie from speaking. When the other fairies turned to face the Queen, it seemed something very different stood before them. The somewhat clumsy Queen was gone, and in her place stood a more determined leader.

"Citizens of Ripple Star, lend me your ears. The Crystal Shard that came under attack by Dark Matter is in rightful hands, those of one our very own, Ribbon. For months, Dark Matter plagued not just our own planet, but other parts of the galaxy in an attempt to plunge us all into darkness. And some of us succumbed to that darkness." She paused and let out a heavy sigh as she felt a fairy's hand on her shoulder. She let it stay.

"I know not the full extent of what harm Dark Matter brought to you all or to Ribbon. But as you can see, the darkness has vanished from our midst. We must begin to rebuild, strengthen our hold over darkness and ensure a safe and secure future for ourselves and those who come after us."

The Queen's ears perked. She put a hand to one ear as the sound of rushing wind pierced the sky. She looked up and saw a shooting star grow in size as it sped towards her.

Dixie looked up. "Oh my word!"

"I know, I see it too!"

Emily's wings fluttered as a smile formed on her face. "She's back!"

The fairies looked to the sky as a bright star sped closer into view. The sound of Adeleine screaming grew louder until the Warp Star stopped just inches above the ground. Adeleine stopped screaming and let go of Dedede's leg.

Kirby jumped off first and handed the Crystal Shard to the fairy floating next to the Queen. Before he could address her, Kirby watched as the Queen walked past him and towards the Warp Star.

"My Queen-" Ribbon did not finish her sentence before Queen Gretchen took her in a long hug. She melted in the Queen's embrace as she felt the Queen squeeze her back with her hand. After a few seconds of being pressed against the Queen, Ribbon remembered the pain screaming in her hand. She struggled against the grip until the Queen let her go.

"My word, Ribbon. Your hand."

Before Ribbon could answer, the Queen had several fairies escort the five into the castle to the medical wing. Once the five vanished, she turned back toward the audience.

"Everyone, clear your schedules this evening. All should gather here at the sound of the first bell. Now, be on your way."

After an uncomfortable silence passed, the sea of fairies scattered in different directions as hushed conversations took over. Queen Gretchen turned to the fairy with the Shard and motioned her to follow.

* * *

The Queen and the fairy stood at opposite ends of the tallest chamber in the castle- the same chamber where Dark Matter once took the Shard before. The Queen motioned for the fairy to place the Crystal Shard back on the pedestal.

"How long, my Queen?" Lily paused and when Gretchen did not respond, she pressed on. "If we succumbed this time, what's to stop some other darkness from trying to steal the Shard?"

Queen Gretchen walked over and laid his hand on Lily's shoulder. "We keep going, Lily. The future has not been written yet. One stumble should not make us look weaker than before this invasion." She pushed up her glasses. "If anything, I must do more to lead you all against this evil. Ribbon's triumph is just an indication that fairies like you will help lead the charge should we come under attack again."

"The pink star warrior proved to be a great asset and ally to us."

Gretchen tapped her forehead like trying to find an impossible itch. Yes, this Kirby must have helped Ribbon a great deal, but this was Ripple Star's fight. The star warrior could be helpful, but the Queen could not just rely on him as a crutch. "I agree with you, yes, but before we focus our attention on seeking outside help, we must focus on strengthening our own resources, first."

"I understand, my Queen."

"Good. Now, we should start preparing for tonight."

* * *

"Pixie, I told you I'm fine."

"Would you hold still already, Ribbon?"

Pixie used one hand to press Ribbon back against her pillow and the other to finish sealing a pack. She then set the pack on Ribbon's hand.

Ribbon's eyes widened as something cold touched her hand. On instinct, she pulled back, but Pixie's iron grip kept Ribbon from retreating.

"Ribbon, I will not restrain you. Now, keep this ice on your hand for 20 minutes, and then take it off for 20 minutes. Repeat that process until it starts to feel better."

"And then what if it still hurts?"

"Then they knock you out!"

Ribbon and Pixie, along with everyone in the room, turned to the sound of Adeleine's voice.

"Yeah, they give you this pill, and you're like, 'Woooowww,'" she collapsed onto her bed, acting as if she had been sedated. "Then you wake up after they sew your hand back together."

Pixie, having newfound disinterest in young human beings, turned her attention back to Ribbon. "Do not straighten the hand at all. If you're still in pain when I get back, well give you some aspirin. That ought to help with the pain." She looked to the others. "Do any of you require assistance?"

Adeleine kept playing dead, while Waddle, Dedede and Kirby all exchanged looks for a moment before they turned to Pixie and shook their heads.

"Right, I'll be back in awhile to check up on you. Until then, just relax." She flew towards the door, and then paused with her hand on the knob. "After all, you've earned it."

Ribbon watched Pixie close the door behind her. She settled onto her bed and tried to relax, but her body remained tense. Her eyes wandered over to the others. They should have left by now. Kirby should want to head back to Pop Star. Dedede had a castle and empire to maintain, right? Waddle Dee had more exploring to do. And Adeleine, after everything she had seen, should want to get up and go back to the other planets to keep find inspiration for her artwork.

But no one seemed to notice the concern written on Ribbon's face. No one except Waddle Dee, who watched his friend, and spoke.

You can drop your guard, Ribbon." He rested against his pillow. "I know that look. No need to try and be the mother anymore. We'll get back to Pop Star soon enough. For now, we are on your planet, so relax."

Ribbon half-expected Waddle to say 'Right, Kirby?' if not for Kirby already being asleep. Instead, the fairy let her head rest against her pillow as she tried to collect her thoughts. Soon, sleep met her like a close friend in an empty bed.

* * *

Word of the end of Dark Matter spread throughout Ripple Star fast, covering the planet like a blanket of great relief. Night soon came as the fairies continued bustling about in preparation for that evening.

Desperation shot to the front of Adeleine's mind as she awoke from playing dead. The sound of muffled snoring filled the room while the artist shuffled out of bed, eager to answer nature's call.

Adeleine staggered into the hallway and spotted an emerald haired fairy heading towards the staircase.

"Excuse me! Do you know where I can find the restroom?"

The fairy stopped mid-flight and turned to face the human. "Last door at the end of the hallway."

"Thanks!" Adeleine rushed past the fairy.

"I hope you're using this time to freshen up."

Adeleine stopped. Well, rather, she hobbled from side to side and turned back toward the fairy. "Freshen up for what?"

"For tonight's ceremony, of course. Weren't you all informed?" The fairy waved her hand, dismissing the matter as she flew past Adeleine. "No matter. Just make sure that you, Ribbon and her friends come down to the grand hall when you all are ready."

Adeleine gave that some thought, while her wobbling legs moved toward the bathroom for her. When she came out, she walked back into the room and approached Dedede's bed. Unsure how to wake him up, Adeleine tapped his robe once and pulled back in an instant.

Except she didn't pull back. She froze in horror as Dedede's flipper caught her hand in a tight grip. Adeleine let out a high pitched wail as she dropped to her knees in pain.

"Who's there?"

"Food!"

Waddle Dee and Kirby shot up at the same time. Waddle realized someone had not knocked on his door and Kirby frowned when he did not see a plate of food in front of him. Ribbon, a bit faster than them, coasted towards the light switch and turned it on.

Dedede's eyes shot open and, upon realizing what he had done in his sleep, let go of Adeleine's hand.

Adeleine shook her hand like a fresh fish out of water flopping around for air, then blew on it for extra measure. "Gosh, penguin! If you do _not_ like my art, let me know before you try to take my hands."

"Why did you wake us up, Adeleine?"

When the pain faded, Adeleine faced Kirby and Waddle. "Some fairy I ran into said we need to get ready and head to the grand hall. No reason why, though," she shrugged her shoulders, "but maybe the Queen wants to talk to us or something."

Kirby hopped off of the bed. "Well, I'm rested up anyway. Let's go see what she wants."

* * *

Darkness covered all of Ripple Star when the group arrived outside. Just a few windows inside the Queen's castle seemed reluctant to give up their light. Kirby pushed open the castle door and a long, empty hallway greeted him.

Ribbon flew to his side. "Those large double doors at the end. That is where we go."

With each step, Ribbon heard her heart pound in her chest like a war drum making its presence known. What would the Queen want with her? Just how many people knew about what had happened on Dark Star? Would she be tried for failing to protect the Crystal Shard from being shattered?

Kirby arrived at the double doors and, after taking a breath, pushed them open.

A cluster of different hair colors, wings and small dresses met the five as the eye of every fairy as far as they could see turned to face them. Queen Gretchen stood on a stage at the end of the long walkway between the crowds of fairies. As the five walked toward the stage, they felt the weight of the crowd's eyes on them. After a certain point had been reached, the numbers ceased to matter to Kirby. He just saw the faceless mass of a crowd.

Time seemed to slow as Ribbon saw the Queen come closer into view. As she continued flying toward the stage, she saw the eyes of other fairies follow her. It seemed for a second that, if she wanted to, she could count out the faces in the crowd around her, like so many flowers in a field.

Queen Gretchen motioned for Ribbon to fly to her side. Dedede walked up the steps and onto the stage first. Adeleine stood by his side, followed by Waddle Dee and Kirby. When the Queen told them to, they turned and faced the crowd. Silence filled the room as the Queen began pacing before the group.

"For so long, Ripple Star and other planets had been plagued by Dark Matter. Dark Matter stood as a symbol of pain and loss, seeking to plunge this galaxy into darkness." She walked past Kirby. "But others chose to fight against it. In the lives of brave warriors, great and small." She glanced in Dedede's direction

"Some chose to fight with brute strength, others with their creativity." As Queen Gretchen continued, Adeleine twirled one of her feet. "Others used their brains and their ever increasing knowledge of the galaxy around them, and some just refused to give up fighting no matter what the costs.

"Fueled by the wishes of one very brave soul," the Queen patted Ribbon's shoulder, "these warriors put their lives on the line for the sake of others throughout the galaxy." She looked to Emily and Dixie, who stood in the first row. "And sometimes, their friends and allies acted. As time passed, Dark Matter's presence in this galaxy would falter to a simple nuisance and from a nuisance to a pest that needed to be eliminated.

"Fighting, sometimes with their lives on the line, these five managed to destroy Dark Matter and ensure the protection of our Crystal Shard." She stood between Ribbon and Kirby and paused, an edge beginning to creep into her voice. "But the mere idea, the smallest inspiration that gave birth to darkness still runs deep in the farthest reaches of the galaxy. And the struggle to overcome it is not and may never be over. But for those of us who will continue to fight, we can draw inspiration from these individuals who fought back and proved that light shall always shine through the darkness."

The Queen motioned for Pixie to come forward. She did, with four red and white ribbons cradled in her arms. At the end of each ribbon lay a shining fragment. The Queen walked to Dedede and placed one around his neck.

"So a part of us shall always be with you." She moved onto Adeleine while Dedede, who promised himself he would not cry, just kept blinking.

Adeleine held the jewel in her hand, admiring its brilliant glow and happy at having something else she could recreate with her art.

Waddle's jewel came next. "We are forever in your debt." The Queen moved to Kirby and placed a ribbon around his body. "You shall always have an ally in Ripple Star."

While the Queen walked past Kirby, Adeleine caught a brief glimpse of expectation in Ribbon's eyes that vanished as soon as it appeared.

"Excuse me, your honor?"

"Your majesty," Pixie corrected.

Adeleine shook her head. "No, you don't have to call me that. I was wondering, what about Ribbon? What does she get for all of this?"

Ribbon chuckled. "Oh, I do not believe I will need a Shard as a gift, Adeleine. I live on Ripple Star. I shall have the pleasure of viewing the jewel in person."

Queen Gretchen cleared her throat. "Be that as it may, you shall not go without your own reward." She motioned for Ribbon to come toward her. When Ribbon came next to her, she took the fairy's hand. "My dear Ribbon, when you left this planet with the Crystal Shard, you carried not just the fate of the Shard itself, but the fate of our planet and the galaxy itself. That is a huge burden to shoulder alone, and an even greater one when the forces of darkness managed to shatter the Shard.

"But when you faced uncertainty, you found it in yourself to keep striving to make sure Dark Matter did not win." She looked to Kirby. "You cultivated bonds with friends who helped you through this dark period. And when you may have been at your lowest point, you found it within yourself to trust in them, and them in you. Ripple Star is grateful to have a fairy like you. Such determination is worthy of a true leader.

"Which is why today, in the presence of your friends and all citizens of Ripple Star, I hereby name you Commander of the Ripple Star Battalion. The next time our planet is under attack, I want you at the forefront, ready to lead our planet into victory."

Ribbon's wings froze as she landed on the ground. Shock made it way all over her face, on display for everyone to see. She tried to gather herself, but she felt her shoulders move up and down and her eyes start to water.

Then, while waiting for the tears to pour down her face, she heard the silence pouring from the crowd. The audience held themselves, quiet, tense, and tight, as if the Queen's declaration had struck them of their ability to speak. Then there came a murmur of sobs from Emily, Dixie and a few other fairies in the front row.

Then came the applause. A roar like leaping flame, like thunder after lightning.

Amidst the applause, Ribbon buried her face in her hands and wept. Not for the Crystal Shard that shattered under her watch and not for failing to protect her planet. Not for the sleepless nights spend worrying about her Queen and friends. She cried for the friends she had made and what they sacrificed, for the end of Dark Matter's reign and for the peace that the Crystal Shard once again brought to Ripple Star and all other planets throughout the galaxy. She became lost in her joy, not even noticing the Queen's arms envelop her or the crowds thunderous applause.

But when Ribbon managed to open her eyes, she saw Kirby cheering her on. Kirby, who had been there from the beginning, housed her, and gave her a bit of hope after the Shard broke. She saw his ever present smile and realized nothing she did could ever come close to paying him back for what he had done for her.

Freeing herself from the Queen's hug, Ribbon floated toward Kirby. Slow, but steady, she closed her eyes and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Kirby should have frozen in his place. Ribbon should have ended up with a girlish giggle, along with her friends at the rhymes they would soon make about Kirby and Ribbon sitting in a tree.

Instead, Kirby felt he had to dance. And he did. Kirby let himself twirl around and around, never noticing how close he was to the steps leading to the podium.

"Kirby, you might want to be careful-"

Waddle's warning did nothing. Kirby fell backwards down one stair. As Adeleine went to grab him, one of Kirby's feet got caught in her ribbon, which dragged her forward. That alone would be fine, except Adeleine had her hands outstretched, so one caught Waddle Dee in the back, shooting him forward, while the other grabbed hold of Dedede's coat, bringing him and his hammer, which caught Ribbon's damaged hand by surprise, into one jumbled pile at the bottom of the stairs.

Soon, Adeleine managed to crawl out of the heap and faced the fairies. Unsure what to do next, she bawled her fists and threw her hands in the air, as if she had won a fight.

The fairies, in response, waited with abated breath, then cheered.

Queen Gretchen tried to hide her smile, but failed. She raised her hand and the crowd silenced itself in response.

"If it pleases you all, let us move to the dining hall."

* * *

Most of the time, dinner at Ripple Star was smooth. Fairies ate either in silence or had hushed conversations with each other. Sounds consisted of silverware hitting plates and the dull thump of fairies pushing through the kitchen door with more meals. For the most part, dinner moved along at a fair pace with no problems. You ate, and if you were still hungry, you requested more, and then you turned in your plate and went on about your business.

"MORE STEAK!"

Not so tonight.

At the Queen's long dinner table, fairies sat in amazement as Kirby, Waddle Dee, Adeleine and Dedede feasted with no restraint. Finished plates sat to their left and right while they focused on two or three half-finished ones in front of them.

Kirby used one hand to devour a rib, the other a lobster.

Waddle Dee brought his fork to his mouth, but found his steak flying towards Kirby. Adeleine prepared to slurp down a bowl of fresh soup, but she lost out to Kirby inhaling it. She watched as it flew across the long table all the way to where Kirby sat.

Dedede noticed this and held his new steak a few inches from his mouth. Once Kirby began inhaling and Dedede's steak flew away from him, he also picked up his hammer and let _that_ fly toward Kirby.

Kirby, too focused on what food he would get next, got a face full of hammer that knocked him out of his seat and onto the floor.

As empty plates went to the center of the table, more full ones came out of the kitchen. Some fairies watched from their tables in awe, others too dumbstruck to sit down.

"Where do they put it all?" one fairy asked.

"The Queen likes to eat with little to no noise."

Amidst calls for more food, bones flying everywhere, and various attempts to stop Kirby from stealing everyone else's food, Ribbon laughed. Hard. For the first time in a long time, she laughed.

* * *

When dinner ended and the fairies returned to their homes, Dedede and Adeleine lingered in the hospital room where they stayed.

"And just where do you plan to go, artist?"

"Dunno yet." Adeleine stuffed some more markers into a makeshift bag she painted. "Maybe head back to Pop Star. I never got to finish my work on the forest. Besides, what about you? Don't you have a castle to run?"

Dedede waved away the matter. "Please. They'll let me know when they need me."

Just then, Waddle Dee rushed into the room with a note in his hand. He paused to catch his breath then turned his attention to Dedede.

"Great news, Dedede! I got word from the others on Pop Star and they've just finalized the reconstruction on the castle after your battle with Kirby."

"It took _that_ long?"

"This message is not new- it just took awhile to catch up to us. You know, flying around in a magical shard and all. But anyway, they say that you can return as soon as tomorrow or the next day and get back to ruling again."

Dedede froze in absolute horror. His stomach growled with the memory of delectable food being brought to him not that long ago, the treatment the fairies had done for him and the others, the comfortable beds, a Queen who knew how to rule a planet, and all free of charge. Now he would have to head back to Pop Star and just wait for Kirby to do something just to keep things interesting?

"Um, Waddle, write a letter to the others and let them know that I cannot make it in tomorrow. In fact," Dedede regained his confident strut and settled into his bed. "I think I'm busy all week."

* * *

Kirby and Ribbon sat atop the castle as fireworks shot into the air. Again, Ribbon found herself at peace. She let her body relax as she settled against the wall. The everyday lack of joy in her life that felt like a toothache she had grown used to had vanished. The night stood like warm velvet around them. The stars, burning diamonds in the sky against the colorful explosions, stretched for miles.

"So what happens to you, Kirby? Are you going to go straight home after this?"

The questions caught Kirby off guard. He had not considered leaving so soon, with Pop Star just a planet away.

"Hadn't planned on it. I mean, we're on your planet, the place that you kept telling us about. I wanna do some exploring here while I still have the chance. Pop Star is close, so I could head back when I wanted to. Until then, I wanna stay here as long as possible. And even if I did leave," he pulled out his Warp Star phone and placed it in Ribbons hands, "you know how to get in touch with us."

Ribbon's hands trembled as she cradled the phone.

"Well, maybe not Dedede since he's kinda weird, but me, Waddle and I guess Adeleine-"

Ribbon threw her arms around Kirby. He, in response, said nothing, but returned the embrace. Nothing needed to be said. He had met her at her weakest moment. She met him out of the blue. She had known him longer than any of the other friends she had made during this journey. True, she may have bonds with fairies she has known longer than Kirby and that is not something that Kirby could change, but there was an everlasting spark between the two that Ribbon knew she could not get from someone else. No one else could touch it, no matter how hard they might try. His light shining in her, and her's in him.

As Ribbon released Kirby, she ignored the fresh tears streaking her face as they stared back at each other without a word. Kirby realized how still everything was. Not a blade of grass stirred below. Even the sound of the fireworks now seemed muted, as if far off in the distance. Neither of them could tell the future, but now they are young, and friends forever bound by their adventures together, and both were too busy knowing deep in their hearts that they will never forget each other.

"Let's get some sleep."

* * *

All of Ripple Star slept with ease that night. Queen Gretchen did not even have to keep checking to make sure the Crystal Shard was still intact. Just the muffled sound of snoring echoed from one bed to the next, all across the planet.

All except for Kirby. He sat wide awake in his bed, while Ribbon, Adeleine, Waddle Dee and King Dedede slept. Eyes open, Kirby lay awake for at least an hour and heard the silence in the thick walls of the medical room. The silence was appropriate, as it wrapped other silences around itself. It was deep and wide as autumn's ending. It was heavy as a smooth stone in a river on Pop Star. Kirby blinked as he heard the unknown voice speaking to him in his mind again.

_"You think you are the only hero in the universe?"_

It was the realization that the pink puffball's adventures of saving the galaxy had just begun.


	35. The Offer

Author's Note: Well folks, here we are at the finale. Thanks to everyone for sticking around, as long as it's taken to update this story. The idea for this came after watching a few, particular movies and I do hope to follow up on it. Inserting it was too good of an idea pass up on, so I'm giving it a shot.

* * *

**Chapter 35: The Offer**

The four of them landed. Ripple Star would seem an odd planet, but they had seen stranger world and lands before. Just another out-of-this-world place to them.

One of them, the only female in the group, tapped her temple with her left finger and then pointed west. "He's in that direction. He and the others, as well."

The other three let her lead the way toward Queen Gretchen's castle. Nothing waited for them on this planet except for one goal. No emperors or kings to defeat and no legion of minions lining up for them to knock down, one by one. No, what they had in mind this time was a different sort of challenge.

One of the four spoke up. "I thought he would've headed back to his own planet by now."

"It's his one night to bask in the fact that he and his friends are being celebrated as heroes. Let him have that. I'm sure he planned to head out in the morning, maybe sooner, but by then-"

"He'll have already said 'Yes' to us," another of them finished.

The last one tipped his cap and looked to the female in the group. "Right, right. Meanwhile, mind getting us there a bit quicker? Less ground to cover."

"Fine." She stopped and asked the others to join hands. After closing her eyes to focus for a few seconds, an array of colors spun around the four of them until they vanished from sight.

* * *

"Stop staring into space!"

"But it's such a pretty night."

Two fairies stood stationed outside the entrance to the Queen's castle. One kept her eye trained to the sky while the other focused on her job of guarding the entrance until shift change.

The fairy looking at the sky kept watching. "I think you're just bitter because you didn't get any food tonight."

"Did you _see_ them tonight? The pink one pretty much inhaled the kitchen!" She paused, as if to give weight to her words. "In fact, I think he _did_ inhale all of the food in the kitchen! Yeah, I'm bitter! And where do you-"

A flash of light and four strange creatures appearing out of nowhere ended the conversation. The two fairies raised their flashlights and whistles, the only devices given to the night shift, at the sight of four individuals.

"Halt!" One fairy shined her light on the man in green. "By order of Queen Gretchen, who rules Ripple Star with a fist as powerful as the Crystal Shard we guard-"

"Who are you and what are you all doing here?" The second fairy did not like the theatrics or planned out speeches. "Please identify yourself."

The female in the group put two fingers to her temple and extended her right arm. After focusing for a few seconds, to the bewilderment of the fairies, she opened her eyes. "The Queen is inside. And so is our potential member with his friends."

"Well then, let's go."

"I'm telling the Queen!" One of the two fairies fumbled with her whistle before a hook zipped out of nowhere. The fairy watched as the hook, attached by a long chain, returned to the side of the man in green. He pocketed the whistle before staring down the two fairies with challenging eyes.

"Stand aside."

The two fairies dropped their remaining items and fluttered backward. The four individuals walked past them without a word and into the castle. The fairies exchanged a glance and decided to follow behind. At a reasonable distance. Which meant waiting until the four had rounded a bend or wouldn't look behind them.

* * *

Kirby turned on his side and put the pillow over his head, yet the voice persisted. It spoke on without interruption or consideration of the puffball's need for sleep.

"_You cannot save the universe by yourself. No one can."_

"SHUT UP!" Kirby shot forward, managing to wake up Waddle Dee in the process. Dedede, Adeleine and Ribbon remained in dreamland.

Waddle Dee rubbed his eyes, which hadn't accumulated their late night crust yet. "I always wanted a fresh start to the day when it's still night outside, Kirby, thanks for that."

"Waddle, did you ever get that feeling that there may be this person in your head, talking to you? You know, and never leaving you alone?"

Waddle's eyes were low enough that he could have fallen asleep sitting up if he wanted to, but high enough that he could make out Kirby without drifting back into sleep. "Too much free food, Kirby. Cut back on the…meats…" Waddle Dee's captivating message ended as he dropped his head and went back to sleep.

Kirby just frowned. Ribbon, meanwhile, heard everything.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but no queen or princess should have a castle of this proportion," one of the three males in the group said aloud.

The four walked for what seemed like minutes dragged out long enough to feel like hours. With each spiraling stairway, they hoped to stumble upon the grand prize, some larger door with a Q on it or maybe a red carpet that had to lead to the queen's room, but nothing.

"When you're royalty, you're entitled to it," another joined in. He looked to the female. "Are we close and even better, are we still being followed?"

The female removed her head from her temple and smiled for the first time all night. "Up ahead and yes, they're one full floor beneath us. Let them come. As far as I'm concerned, this involves their planet, so the more that know, the better." She stopped, examined the hallway and led the others toward the door at the end. "In here."

"So wait, they put two 'guards' at the entrance, but not in front of the queen's room? What kind of sense does that make?"

"Maybe they thought their first two were so good that no one would ever pass them." One of them turned their head to the left just long enough to see two spots of colored hair vanish from sight. "If you would."

The female opened the door and before she could take one step in, light flooded the room. One fairy came into view with a bow and arrow at the ready and fired. Another arrow shot from the man in green, who had managed to produce his own bow in a matter of seconds. His arrow split the fairy's arrow down the middle and planted itself in the wall behind the fairy.

A second fairy, wings fluttering with half the vigor as a few seconds ago, managed to still fire her arrow at the female.

Unmoved, the female managed a smile as the arrow stopped, inches away from her face to the point that it could breathe on her. She tilted her head a bit and watched as the arrow floated toward the man in green. "Nowhere near as powerful as yours, but their craftsmanship is still impressive."

"If I could get a word in my own room, I would appreciate some sort of formal greeting." Everyone looked toward Queen Gretchen, who sat upright in her bed with her hair in an unkempt mess. "Whatever happened to just saying 'Hello?'"

The man in green put away his bow and went to retrieve his bow. "Sorry about that, your highness. We don't expect fairies as a line of defense. We're more accustomed to bigger threats."

"Hey!" One of the fairies yelped.

"But we needed to speak to you first before addressing him ourselves," the woman joined in. "We require your input as well since we may be depriving you of your new battalion commander. Sorry for the sudden intrusion."

The Queen waved her hand, dismissing it. "I don't even know what's happened in the past few days. I'm still getting all of the details. A little late night interruption isn't the worst thing that's happened to me."

Both of the fairies floated next to the Queen. The female of the four cleared her throat. "Your highness, we know all about Dark Matter, you and your planet falling prey to it and losing the Shard. But we also know about the efforts of your young fairy, Kirby and their entourage. To be honest, we commend them."

Queen Gretchen nodded. "But you didn't come here in the middle of the night to tell me that."

"You yourself said that the fight against evil may never be over, and we agree."

"Without question," another of the four added.

"There are forces out there that still threaten our universe. You think Dark Matter is the end of this?"

"Our Queen already has a full scale battalion ready for such an occasion and with Ribbon at the head-"

"You're missing the point! This goes deeper than Dark Matter. This requires more than a legion of fairies. And it means more happening than just falling under something else's control."

The Queen's glance dropped as she stared at her sheets. _That_ memory she remembered, no question.

"We don't blame you for what happened, your highness," one of the males added. "Though we deem it necessary to point out that this Dark Matter was nothing compared to other evils. Consider that Dark Matter chose to let you keep your body and your life. It had the ability to consume Ripple Star, yet it let its queen keep her life. Not everyone and everything is as forgiving or generous."

"Which is why we're assembling some of the universe's finest-"

"Just tell us what you need us to do and we'll take it from there!" One of the fairies interrupted.

"There won't be a _we_," the female of the four shot back. "You fail to understand that your planet almost succumbed altogether to Dark Matter. As you mentioned, your highness, the struggle may never be over. Many of you must remain as the planet's defense. We are here for those we see fit to join us."

The Queen looked up. "So you want Kirby and Ribbon to leave their friends to join some ragtag group of people that they've never met, just to go on some adventure?"

"We're talking about the safety of every single one of us. Did you expect an easy decision? After everything that they have been through, we don't expect them to say yes. We don't even expect them to consider it, but to understand the seriousness of the situation. Think of this as a greater reward for their last test."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "Their last test, huh? Did they pass?"

"They did. If they could not destroy Dark Matter, they would not be reader for this greater challenge. Not to make light of what you all experienced, but Dark Matter's power will seem like nothing compared to what else lies out there. For your heroes, this will just be the beginning.

"But they proved themselves by retrieving one Shard after another and eliminating Dark Matter. They're ready to take on something much greater."

The gravity of this weighed upon Queen Gretchen's head. She reached for her glasses and pushed them up the bridge of her nose. "So what does any of this have to do with me? It sounds as if you've already made up your minds. No matter what I say, this is going to end up with Kirby, Ribbon and the others leaving."

"This planet is still under your rule," one of the four countered. "You still lead these fairies, not us. We wouldn't just steal away your new commander without your consent. Also, she is still young and you may consider her inexperienced to handle something of this magnitude."

"Plus, if we wanted to just take them without your permission, we'd have done it already."

"I think this is something that you all should just discuss with them instead of me." The Queen looked to Emily. "Go awaken them and let them know they have visitors."

The female of the four, again, put two fingers to her temple. "Already on that."

* * *

"_You think you are the only hero in the universe?"_

Again, Kirby shot upward in the bed.

"_If you wish to save others, to join others like yourself and help those who cannot help themselves, seek me out."_

"And just how am I supposed to do that?"

"Yup, I'm awake now." Adeleine threw off her covers, but put up her hands to cover her eyes when Dedede turned on the light. "Kirby, do you have an invisible friend that you haven't told us about?"

"I'm sorry everyone, but haven't you ever had a voice in your head, telling you what to do?"

"Of course not, Dedede just yells at you before he gets in your head," Adeleine laughed before a well thrown pillow knocked her on her back.

"No, you guys, I'm serious. Someone or something keeps talking to me and…they want us to go?"

Waddle Dee tilted his head to the side. "Could it be Dark Matter again?"

Ribbon shook her head. "No, not Dark Matter. Even _if_ Dark Matter managed to survive that blast somehow, I doubt it would try to come after the Shard so soon. And I know it's no one from my planet because, as far as I know, we don't have telepaths."

Adeleine pushed the pillow onto the floor. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, we ought to go see the Queen and see what she has to say about this," Ribbon suggested.

"Funny, that's who this voice is telling me to see." Kirby got out of the bed and walked toward the door.

"Kirby, random voice talks to you in your head and you're gonna go ahead with whatever it says? You're not even gonna be the least bit worried?"

"I think almost getting caught in an exploding planet took away all my worry. Plus, the longer the voice talks, the more it'll keep me up, which means I'll keep you all up."

The others exchanged a glance, shrugged and followed Kirby into the hallway. Despite days and nights of travel, fighting and near death, they couldn't turn down another encounter.

"_Yes, just a few floors down."_

"Yes, just a few floors down," Kirby repeated, until the others stopped in place and wondered just who he was talking to.

The sound of their feet and shoes against the floor trailed off and the castle seemed to hold its breath as they approached the Queen's door. After taking a deep breath, and at the voice's insistence that he stop staring at the door, Kirby entered.

It would be the understatement of the century to say that Kirby and the others had seen some strange things before. No need to retread over the various creatures they had encountered, but it was odd for them to come upon…humans? Sure, Adeleine and the Queen were one thing, but _this_ was strange.

"Ah, he's here at last."

Kirby recognized the voice in his head now loud and clear for everyone to hear, and his eyes widened as he zeroed in on the woman in the pink and white dress as the source. She started a slow clap for a few seconds before walking toward Kirby and looking him dead in his eyes.

"Brilliant work, all of you. We've been keeping track of your work and I believe I can speak for the four of us when I say we are all impressed with what you managed to do."

The others nodded. The man in green stood up. Kirby took a step backward not because of his height, but because his eyes could not stay off of the massive sword on his back. But before he could speak, Queen Gretchen cleared her throat.

"Kirby, Ribbon, all of you, we are in your debt for your selflessness and aiding Ripple Star and this entire galaxy. Yet it seems your work is far from over."

"Your Queen said herself that the fight against evil may never be over, and it isn't. There are other forces lingering out there, more devastating than Dark Matter."

Adeleine smirked. "Well, whatever it is, we'll be ready for it! We kicked that Dark Matter outta here and we'll do it again, too!"

One of the four approached Adeleine. He came down to her level, looked her in the eye and smiled. "Admirable, but what we're talking about goes beyond Dark Matter. And it will take more than a paintbrush and easel to defeat it."

Kirby remained wary of the human in front of Adeleine. He did not seem very nice, or maybe he knew more about this than they knew. Either way, Kirby figured the man may have responded that way because he had anger issues. After all, that had to be what the "M" on his red cap stood for. That or 'moustache' because Kirby had to admit, that was one glorious moustache.

The sorta kinda human fox person stood up from the Queen's bed.

"We are in the process of putting together a group of special individuals, but we understand if you wish to remain here with your friends. Know that you may be away from them for a long time. It will be dangerous, no question, but we cannot force you to go. Neither can your Queen."

The five looked to Queen Gretchen, who nodded in agreement.

"This is a decision that you all will have to make on your own."

Ribbon turned around from everyone else. "So much time lost, so much to catch up on, and now my Queen has placed me in charge of our battalion. I couldn't just, no, I won't-"

"Ribbon."

Queen Gretchen's voice struck the air like a commandment.

"We understand your desire to come back home for good, believe me. However, we believe this to be the best decision for the greater good. You, _all_ of you, have done us a great service, one that would take years to repay. Now you all are being asked to do something greater, to help _others_ like us who want to stand against the darkness. Who will be on the frontline when evil strikes again. Do not tell me that you are not ready for that type of responsibility."

Ribbon gritted her teeth and tried to choke back tears, but to no avail. She felt Dedede's flipper on her hand.

"You've come too far to just give up on beating bad guys."

Waddle Dee stepped forward. "Count me in." He looked to Adeleine, whose smile beamed with anticipation.

"Another adventure? You bet I'm in! Maybe I'll get to paint better stuff!"

After using Dedede's robe, which he did sleep in, to cover up any tears, and turned around.

"If it's for a greater good, then yes, I will do it!"

"You bet we're in."

All eyes turned to Kirby, who remained silent. Random fairy lands on his head, has a sad story, have to leave home on Pop Star for months to endure volcanoes, sand traps sharks, demented toy factories, snowstorms, a Rubix cube that can't decide when to close its eyes, and just when he may have a moment's rest, he can't have that because there may be something _else_ out there even _worse_ than Dark Matter?

With a cheeky grin on his face, Kirby nodded. "It's not even a question. Let's do it."

Queen Gretchen, Emily and Dixie all clapped to themselves while Ribbon, Waddle Dee, Adeleine and Dedede all gathered behind Kirby.

"Glad to hear it," the female of the four responded. "As we said, this is a group of special individuals and there is no doubt in our mind that the five of you are worthy candidates."

The strange looking fox human approached Kirby, extended his hand and once Kirby returned the gesture, gave him a firm handshake.

"Glad to have you onboard, but before we leave, we haven't been introduced." He motioned to the others, who stepped forward.

"My name is Fox McCloud, to my left are the Hero of Time, Link, and Princess Zelda of Hyrule, and to my right is Mario of the Mushroom Kingdom. And Mr. Kirby, to you and all of your friends, we say welcome to the team."

Kirby blinked. "Say, just what kind of team are we talking about?"


End file.
